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A  REASONABLE  SERVICE 


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A    REASONABLE 
SERVICE 

A  Story  of  Practical  Zionic  Ideals 


BY  GRACE  BAUGHMAN,KEAIRNES 


1922 

HERALD  PUBLISHING  HOUSE 
Independence,  Missouri 


DEDICATION 

To  my  husband,  whose  interest  and  understanding  have  been  an 
invaluable  aid  in  the  preparation  of  this  little  book,  with  the 
earnest  prayer  that  it  may  be  the  means  of  helping,  if  only  a 
little,  towards  the  realization  of  the  beautiful  Zionic  dream  that 
is  ours. 


FOREWORD 

As  a  church  we  are  developing  a  literature  of 
distinctive  motif  and  special  appeal,  this  book 
being  an  excellent  sample.  Almost  a  century  ago 
the  church  teachings  suggested  here  were  an- 
nounced to  the  world.  As  a  result  of  the  preach- 
ing of  those  ideas,  thousands  of  yearning  souls 
gathered  to  the  standard  of  social  betterment 
that  had  a  consistent  religious  basis.  The  dark 
days  of  apostasy  and  disruption,  followed  by  re- 
organization, delayed  the  realization  of  the  Zionic 
dream  yet  failed  to  affect  its  intrinsic  beauty  and 
attractive  power. 

This  book  succeeds  admirably  in  combining 
essential  factors  in  the  Zionic  program  and  pre- 
senting them  graphically  and  effectively.  Pos- 
sibly the  demands  of  the  hour  to  be  brief  may 
have  been  heeded  too  literally  by  the  author,  but 
she  has  been  faithful  to  her  ideal  of  correct  em- 
phasis in  stressing  ideals  rather  than  a  detailed 
romantic  situation. 

As  the  days  go  by,  this  author  and  others  will 
no  doubt  take  up  and  develop  the  Zionic  theme 
in  song  and  fiction  and  exposition.  Thus  will 
we  all  be  led  to  a  happy  unity  in  clear  ideals, 
forming  the  proper  nucleus  for  the  real  Zion. 

E.  D.  MOORE. 
INDEPENDENCE,  MISSOURI. 


CONTENTS 

Chapters  Pages 

1.  The  Popular  Young  Graduate 11 

2.  The  County  Agent  in  a  Religious 
Argument  21 

3.  A  Creature  of  Circumstance 41 

4.  A  Severed  Friendship  61 

5.  The  Parting  of  the  Ways 77 

6.  An  Unchanged  Decision 93 

7.  A  View  of  Commercial  Life 115 

8.  A  Discussion  of  Stewardship  Ideals 141 

9.  A  Vision  Realized  ..  .167 


A  Reasonable  Service 


CHAPTER    1 

THE   POPULAR  YOUNG  GRADUATE 

HOW  good  it  seems  to  be  home  again!" 
Blythe  pulled  down  a  branch  of  the  tall 
lilac  bush  and  buried  her  face  in  its  fra- 
grant blossoms.  "Don't  you  just  love  lilacs, 
Uncle  John?" 

"I  love  a  certain  young  lady  more,"  averred 
the  lean,  kind- faced  man  she  addressed,  "and  it 
seems  mighty  good  to  have  her  home  again?" 

"Such  an  old  blarney  of  an  uncle,"  she  accused 
him  gay ly,  as  she  ran  up  the  steps  to  the  wide 
veranda,  tucking  a  spray  of  lilacs  into  her  belt 
as  she  went.  At  the  top  stood  her  aunt,  waiting 
in  smiling  dignity  to  greet  her.  Blythe  had  a 
feeling  that  if  Aunt  Lillian  had  been  suddenly 
forced  to  climb  a  tree  she  would  have  done  it 
without  its  affecting  her  poise  in  the  least. 

"We  have  been  waiting  for  you,"  announced 
Mrs.  Blake,  leading  the  way  to  the  dining  room. 
"Hester  is  quite  out  of  patience." 


12  A  Reasonable  Service 

But  the  middle-aged  housekeeper,  who  looked 
after  everything  in  general,  did  not  seem  put 
out  in  the  least  as  she  beamingly  responded  to 
Blythe's  impetuous  greeting.  "My,  it  does  a 
body's  eyes  good  to  get  sight  of  you  again,  my 
child!"  she  said.  "And  to  think  you  won't  have 
to  go  away  any  more!  But  I  suppose  some 
young  chap  will  come  along  some  day  and  carry 
you  off  for  good  and  all." 

"Not  me!"  was  Blythe's  cheerful  reply.  "Give 
me  Uncle  John  every  time." 

She  was  at  his  heels  while  he  did  his  evening 
work,  petting  her  favorite  horses  and  cows,  view- 
ing the  new  calves  with  delight,  exclaiming  over 
the  fat  baby  pigs,  and  asking  questions  until  her 
uncle  declared  she  was  an  animated  interroga- 
tion point. 

"I  was  afraid  two  years  of  fine  arts  would 
spoil  you,"  he  said,  "but  you  seem  to  be  as  good 
a  farmer  as  ever." 

"I  shall  always  live  on  a  farm,"  she  declared. 
"There  is  more  music  here  than  in  the  clang  of 
city  pavements  for  me!" 

"Better  stay  with  your  old  uncle,  then,"  he 
warned  her.  "You  don't  know  as  much  about  the 
hard  work  that  most  women  on  the  farm  have  to 
do  as  you  might." 


The  Popular  Yowig  Graduate          13 

"Perhaps  not,"  she  replied,  thoughtfully.  Then 
with  animation,  "Isn't  this  the  night  for  the 
township  meeting?" 

"It  is.  May  I  have  the  pleasure  of  your  com- 
pany?" 

"If  you  will  let  me  drive  the  car  just  as  fast 
as  I  want  to?" 

"It  won't  make  over  seventy-five  miles  an 
hour,"  he  replied  soberly,  and  they  both  laughed 
together  like  happy  children. 

Truly  Blythe  had  known  little  of  hardship  in 
the  twenty-three  care-free,  happy  years  of  her 
life.  The  one  dark  cloud  had  been  the  death  of 
her  parents  when  she  was  but  a  child,  and  the 
loneliness  and  anguish  of  the  days  that  fol- 
lowed ;  but  her  uncle's  childless  home  was  opened 
wide  to  her,  and  since  then  life  had  been  wonder- 
fully full — high  school  and  business  college,  for 
her  uncle  declared  she  must  have  practical  educa- 
tion; then  a  course  of  instruction  in  her  beloved 
music,  a  reward  of  merit,  he  called  it. 

John  Blake  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in 
the  surrounding  country,  having  been  left  a  snug 
estate  by  his  father  and  adding  to  it  yearly  by 
his  energy  and  shrewd  management.  His  asso- 
ciates knew  him  for  a  keen  business  man,  yet 
honest  to  the  last  penny.  His  friends  valued  him 


14  A  Reasonable  Service 

for  his  true  worth,  but  few,  even  of  them,  knew 
how  often  his  purse  strings  were  loosened  in  be- 
half of  the  widows  and  fatherless.  Some  of  them 
remembered  how,  years  ago,  he  had  loved  a  blue- 
eyed  girl,  daughter  of  a  neighboring  farmer,  and 
their  coming  marriage  was  planned ;  then  she  was 
suddenly  stricken  by  a  fever,  and  in  a  few  days 
her  death  left  John  Blake  facing  a  blank  wall 
that  shut  out  the  happy  visions  of  the  future. 

After  a  few  years,  when  life  had  partly  settled 
back  into  its  old  channels,  he  married  pretty 
Lillian  Randall,  one  of  the  popular  young  women 
of  the  little  city.  It  was  no  secret  among  her 
friends  that  she  was  marrying  him  for  his  money. 
He  himself  held  vague  suspicion  of  it,  but  her 
seeming  sincerity  was  so  disarming  that  he  dis- 
missed the  idea.  After  marriage  came  disillusion- 
ment, but  it  was  characteristic  of  the  man  that  he 
turned  a  smiling  face  to  the  world  and  held  his 
peace. 

When  his  sister's  little  daughter,  a  tiny,  gold- 
en-haired child  of  seven  summers,  came  into  his 
home,  he  lavished  upon  her  all  the  pent-up  affec- 
tion of  his  nature.  They  were  comrades  and 
chums,  sharing  mutually  each  other's  joys  and 
sorrows.  Perhaps  this  was  why  she  grew  up  to 
womanhood  so  capable  and  unspoiled. 


The  Popular  Young  Graduate          15 

To-night,  as  the  powerful  car  went  spinning 
along  the  road  at  a  hair-raising  speed,  with 
Blythe's  delighted  hands  grasping  the  wheel, 
they  chattered  of  the  thousand  and  one  things 
that  occur  in  half  a  year.  They  were  quite  alone, 
for  Mrs.  Blake  never  attended  any  of  the  farm- 
ers' meetings.  In  fact,  one  of  the  first  reforms 
she  had  tried  to  bring  about  after  their  marriage 
was  a  change  of  occupation  for  her  husband.  But 
here  John  Blake  stood  firm,  and  when  she  found 
that  he  could  not  be  moved,  she  returned  to  her 
social  pleasures  with  unabated  zeal,  for  there  were 
always  a  team  and  carriage  and  later  a  car  at  her 
disposal.  So,  through  the  passing  years,  they 
followed  diverging  paths,  and  if  John  Blake 
missed  the  companionship  he  had  looked  forward 
to,  he  gave  no  sign. 

As  the  big  roadster  sped  down  the  last  long 
slope  to  the  country  church  where  the  meeting 
was  to  be  held,  a  small,  leisurely-moving  car  sud- 
denly appeared  in  the  glare  of  the  headlights. 
Without  checking  speed,  Blythe  blew  a  mellow 
blast  on  the  horn  and  flew  past,  one  end  of  the 
bumper  just  grazing  the  bank  and  the  other 
barely  missing  the  fender  of  the  smaller  machine. 

" You'd  better  slow  down,  young  lady!"  ex- 
claimed Mr.  Blake,  nervously.  "I've  got  my  will 


10  A  Reasonable  Service 

made  and  my  life  insurance  paid  up,  but  I'll  be 
hanged  if  I  want  to  try  the  next  world  just  yet!" 

"All  right,  uncle,"  was  the  cheerful  reply.  "It 
was  only  up  to  fifty-five,  but  if  you  say  so  I'll 
drive  a  little  slower." 

In  the  church  gathered  a  crowd  of  the  farmers 
of  the  surrounding  country,  with  their  wives  and 
families.  In  a  moment  Blythe  was  the  center  of 
a  whirl  of  welcome,  for  she  was  a  general  favorite 
with  her  neighbors. 

"We'll  be  glad  to  have  you  here  to  lead  the 
singing  again,"  said  one  of  the  men,  with  some 
relief.  "I've  done  the  best  I  could,  but  you're 
the  one  for  that  job?" 

In  the  rush  of  greeting  her  friends,  Blythe  had 
failed  to  notice  a  new  arrival  until  Mr.  Blake 
piloted  him  to  her.  He  was  a  little  above  middle 
height,  broad  shouldered,  with  clear,  gray  eyes, 
and  a  shock  of  light  hair  that  showed  copper  tints 
in  the  lamplight. 

"Blythe,  this  is  Mr.  Cameron,  our  new  county 
agent,"  he  said.  "My  niece,  Miss  Halliday,  just 
back  from  school." 

Blythe  decided  she  liked  his  straightforward 
look  and,  as  she  acknowledged  the  introduction, 
gave  him  a  glance  of  cool  appraisal  which  he  re- 
turned with  evident  interest. 


The  Popular  Young  Graduate          17 

"Was  it  you  who  tried  to  annihilate  my  poor 
little  runabout,  Miss  Halliday?"  he  inquired, 
affably.  "I  have  seen  Mr.  Blake  drive  a  number 
of  times  before,  and  I  couldn't  understand  what 
was  the  matter  to-night  unless  he  had  become  a 
sudden  victim  of  drink." 

"You  must  excuse  me  for  frightening  you," 
Blythe  replied,  almost  too  politely.  Evidently 
here  was  an  impertinent  young  man  in  need  of 
suppression.  "I  haven't  had  my  hands  on  the 
wheel  for  six  months,  and  it  was  rather  exhilarat- 
ing." Then  she  turned  her  attention  to  another 
acquaintance,  while  Uncle  John  tried  to  hide  his 
enjoyment  at  Neil  Cameron's  discomfiture. 

The  meeting  was  shortly  called  to  order  and 
the  questions  of  the  hour  were  soon  under  dis- 
cussion. 

"I'll  tell  you  what!"  exclaimed  a  short,  excita- 
ble man,  who  gained  the  floor  after  the  best  meth- 
ods of  haying,  harvesting,  and  kindred  subjects 
had  been  debated.  "There  is  just  one  thing  ahead 
of  us,  and  that's  cutting  down  production.  I've 
had  three  men  hired  in  as  many  weeks,  and  the 
last  one  left  this  morning  because  he  said  he 
didn't  care  about  working  fourteen  hours  a  day 
when  he  could  make  more  in  the  city,  working 
nine.  He  forgets  that  his  board  and  laundry  and 

RS— 2 


18  A  Reasonable  Service 

usual  good  time  will  more  than  eat  up  the  bal- 
ance; but  my  problem  remains  the  same.  I  can 
manage  eighty  or  a  hundred  acres  alone,  and 
that's  what  I'm  going  to  do  next  year.  The  rest 
of  you  will,  too,  before  long.  Let  the  rest  of  the 
world  starve  if  it  won't  work !  I  can  raise  my  own 
living." 

A  smile  went  around  the  room,  for  they  all 
knew  the  speaker,  but  there  was  sympathy  also 
in  the  tanned  faces. 

"Our  problems  are  all  much  the  same,  I  think," 
said  a  quiet-voiced,  intelligent-looking  man  in  the 
rear  of  the  room,  "but  we  don't  want  the  rest  of 
the  world  to  starve,  and  I  don't  believe  it  would, 
even  if  we  cut  down  our  farming  area  as  so  many 
of  us  think  seriously  of  doing.  It  would  of  ne- 
cessity drive  more  back  to  the  land.  But  we  must 
farm  more  intensively,  if  possible,  and  insist  on  a 
fair  price  for  what  we  produce,  and  not  stand 
idly  by  and  let  prices  go  tumbling  down  at  the 
behest  of  the  gamblers  on  the  board  of  trade.  We 
who  have  worked  over  our  crops,  worried  over 
them,  yes,  and  some  of  us  have  prayed  over  them, 
no  doubt,  know  better  what  they  are  worth  in 
dollars  and  cents  than  some  one  who  probably 
has  never  raised  a  peck  of  corn  in  his  life. 

"The  question  of  help  must  be  solved  in  some 


The  Popular  Young  Graduate          19 

way,  too,  though  I  confess  I  don't  know  how. 
Our  wives  are  in  the  same  fix  when  they  need 
help  in  the  house.  The  young  people  are  flock- 
ing to  town  to  spend  the  days  waiting  tables  in 
the  restaurants  or  selling  shoestrings  and  patent 
breakfast  foods  behind  the  counters,  and  the 
nights  at  dances  and  moving  picture  shows.  If 
some  one  can  propose  a  rival  form  of  entertain- 
ment and  make  farm  life  so  attractive  that  young 
men  and  women  will  be  willing  to  stay  in  the 
country,  he  will  have  conferred  a  boon  upon 
farming  humanity." 

"Well,  what  shall  we  do?"  inquired  another, 
rather  flippantly.  "Build  a  dance  hall  in  every 
community  and  put  on  a  moving  picture  every 
other  night?" 

"I  don't  think  this  community  would  favor 
that" — one  of  the  women  spoke  this  time.  "I  be- 
lieve we  would  all  rather  see  the  church  the  cen- 
ter of  interest.  But  religion  doesn't  seem  to  ap- 
peal greatly  to  the  young  people  of  to-day." 

"It  might  if  there  weren't  so  many  white- 
livered  preachers."  This  came  from  John  Blake. 
"If  they  had  initiative  enough  to  preach  live  ser- 
mons, and  not  only  preach,  but  practice,  and  to 
give  the  young  people  something  to  do  that  would 
provide  a  harmless  outlet  for  their  energies,  as 


20  A  Reasonable  Service 

well  as  something  helpful  to  give  some  practical 
form  to  their  religion,  there  would  be  less  trouble 
in  holding  them.  They  want  something  definite 
to  do,  right  here  in  this  vale  of  tears,  instead  of 
the  vague  hope  of  sometime  sitting  in  heaven 
and  playing  a  golden  harp.  No  sane,  normal  hu- 
man being,  old  or  young,  wants  to  spend  all  the 
time,  even  in  the  other  world,  playing  a  harp! 
Suppose  he  has  no  ear  for  music!" 

This  outburst  aroused  mingled  amusement, 
amazement,  and  sympathy  among  his  hearers, 
but  John  Blake  was  in  the  habit  of  bursting  a 
mental  bomb  in  the  midst  of  conservative  assem- 
blies, so  nobody  became  excited,  but  having  de- 
parted so  far  from  the  original  question  and  ar- 
rived at  no  conclusion,  the  meeting  adjourned 
after  a  rousing  chorus  under  Blythe's  competent 
leadership. 


The  County  Agent  in  a  Religious 
Argument 


A  Reasonable  Service  23 

CHAPTER  2 

A  RELIGIOUS  ARGUMENT 


WLL  you  go  to  the  church  social  this 
afternoon,  Blythe?"  inquired  Mrs. 
Blake  one  morning  a  few  days  later. 

"Oh,  I  had  forgotten  about  the  social,  Aunt 
Lillian!"  Her  aunt  failed  to  detect  the  relief  un- 
der the  seeming  regret  in  the  girl's  voice.  "I've 
promised  Marian  I'd  spend  the  whole  day  with 
her.  You  know  I  haven't  been  there  yet  and 
haven't  even  seen  that  blessed  infant." 

"Why  can't  you  postpone  that  until  to-mor- 
row? I  know  Mr.  Titus  will  be  disappointed  if 
you  aren't  there." 

"Oh,  hang  Mr.  Titus!"  exclaimed  Blythe, 
irreverently.  "I  don't  care  if  he  is  my  pastor, 
I  wish  I'd  never  see  him  again!  Why  did  they 
let  Mr.  Reid  go?  He  had  backbone  enough  to 
do  things  worth  while,  even  if  he  didn't  use  so 
much  flowery  rhetoric  in  the  pulpit." 

"Blythe!  Blythe!"  Mrs.  Blake  was  plainly 
shocked.  "I'm  afraid  you've  been  listening  to 
some  of  your  uncle's  heresies,  and  I'm  sure  col- 
lege hasn't  unproved  your  vocabulary.  I  wish 


24  A  Reasonable  Service 

you  could  realize  what  an  estimable  young  man 
Mr.  Titus  is." 

"So  do  I,  Aunt  Lillian,"  replied  Blythe  rather 
wearily,  "but  I'm  afraid  I  never  shall  appreciate 
him.  His  hands  are  so  soft  and  his  voice  is  so- 
silky.  I  think  I'd  better  go  before  I  get  saucy, 
auntie,"  and  with  a  whirlwind  kiss  she  was  off, 
before  Mrs.  Blake  had  time  to  expostulate  fur- 
ther. 

It  was  a  beautiful  blue-and-gold  morning,  and 
Blythe  was  exuberantly  happy  as  she  whistled  to 
her  Scotch  collie  and  raced  madly  across  the  or- 
chard and  into  the  dewy  meadow  beyond.  Gain- 
ing a  knoll,  she  stopped  to  look  back  at  the  big 
white  farmhouse,  with  its  velvety  lawn  shaded  by 
stately  trees,  and  the  wide  orchard  joining  it — a 
band  of  sun-pricked  shadow.  Near  and  far 
stretched  squares  of  whispering  corn,  of  waving 
wheat,  of  woodland  and  meadow,  dotted  here  and 
there  with  sheltering  groves  from  which  peeped 
the  roofs  of  neighboring  farmhouses  with  their 
accompaniment  of  familiar  red  barns. 

"What  a  glorious  old  world  to  live  in,  Lad- 
die!" she  cried,  stooping  to  pat  the  appreciative 
collie,  who  bounced  up  and  down  with  pleasure 
and  then  lay  down  and  rolled  in  the  wet,  sweet 
clover.  She  did  not  tarry  long,  however,  but 


A   Religious  Argument  25 

crossed  the  meadow,  skirted  the  bank  of  a  little 
creek  that  ran  through  a  bit  of  woodland,  and  at 
last  reached  a  snug  homestead,  much  less  preten- 
tious than  the  one  she  had  left,  but  withal  neat 
and  comfortable. 

In  the  garden  near  by  a  young  woman  was 
hard  at  work  with  a  wheel  hoe.  Little  beads  of 
perspiration  dotted  her  flushed  face,  and  she  was 
so  engrossed  with  her  task  that  she  was  not  aware 
of  Blythe's  approach  until  she  spoke : 

"What  an  energetic  young  person  you  are! 
And  who  takes  care  of  His  Royal  Highness 
while  you  work  out  here?" 

Marian  gave  a  start  of  surprise,  then  laughed 
and  explained:  "He's  in  dreamland,  taking  care 
of  himself.  I  was  hurrying  to  get  through  be- 
fore you  came  and  while  he  is  quiet.  Come  on 
into  the  house." 

"Not  much.  We'll  finish  the  garden  and  talk 
while  we  work.  I  can't  appreciate  the  infant 
anyway  until  he  wakes  up." 

The  two  presented  a  physical  contrast  as  they 
worked  away  together— Blythe  slim  and  fair, 
with  hair  like  the  morning  sunlight,  and  Marian 
plump  and  brown-eyed,  with  dark,  curly  masses 
of  rebellious  locks  that  slipped  from  their  moor- 


26  A  Reasonable  Service 

ings  as  she  worked,  and  curled  about  her  moist 
face. 

The  summer  sun  gained  in  power  as  it  rose, 
and  both  were  warm  and  weary  when  the  last 
weed  was  routed  and  they  sought  the  shelter  of 
the  cool,  vine-covered  porch  where  Junior  had 
finished  his  nap  and  was  voicing  his  displeasure 
in  a  series  of  appealing  little  wails. 

"Oh,  let  me  hold  him!"  cried  Blythe,  catch- 
ing him  up  and  hugging  him.  "Isn't  he  nice  to 
squeeze?  so  round  and  soft!" 

Then  she  smiled  at  Marian  and  wondered  a 
little  at  the  light  in  her  brown  eyes  as  she  took 
the  warm  little  form  in  her  arms  and  cooed  over 
him  in  true,  indescribable  mother  fashion. 

"Have  you  heard  from  Jean  lately?"  Marian 
inquired  a  few  minutes  later,  when  conversation 
had  begun  to  lag. 

"Not  lately,"  Blythe  replied.  "There  may  be 
a  letter  pursuing  me  now.  I  left  school  a  few 
days  early,  you  know." 

Jean  was  Marian's  older  sister,  and  the  three 
girls  had  been  constant  chums  until  the  marriage 
of  the  two  and  Blythe's  continued  attendance  at 
college  had  forced  a  parting  of  the  ways.  The 
latter  had  not  been  ill-pleased  when  her  friend 
had  chosen  to  wed  Mrs.  Blake's  nephews,  her 


A   Religious  Argument  27 

own  playmates  and  companions  in  innumerable 
hairbreadth  experiences  during  growing-up  time. 
Jean  lived  now  in  a  neighboring  city,  where  her 
husband  held  a  position  in  a  large  factory  and 
where  Blythe  renewed  friendship  by  periodical 
visits  during  vacation  time. 

When  Marian  spoke  again  it  was  with  some 
hesitancy:  "I  wonder  if  you  knew  that  she  and 
Ralph  have  changed  faiths — joined  the  Latter 
Day  Saints?" 

"No,  I  didn't  know  it!"  Blythe  was  visibly 
surprised.  "Does  Aunt  Lillian  know?" 

"Oh,  yes ;  I  wonder  she  didn't  tell  you." 

"She  has  been  busy  since  I  came  home,  and 
away  most  of  the  time.  I  just  escaped  going 
with  her  this  afternoon.  I  hope  Mr.  Titus  is 
fatally  disappointed,"  she  added  maliciously,  and 
her  companion  giggled  with  delighted  under- 
standing, then  volunteered  further  information: 

"They  attended  a  series  of  meetings  last  winter 
and  became  interested  and  finally  joined  the 
church  a  month  ago.  Of  course  many  of  their 
friends  are  friends  no  longer,  but  Jean's  last  let- 
ter doesn't  express  any  regret.  In  fact,  Roger 
and  I  are  becoming  interested  ourselves.  They 
have  been  sending  us  some  of  the  church  publi- 


28  A  Reasonable  Service 

cations,  and  Roger  declares  it  is  the  most  sensible 
religion  he  has  ever  heard  of." 

"It  is,  and  the  most  scriptural  as  well."  Both 
girls  started,  for  neither  had  heard  the  approach 
of  the  sun-browned  young  man  who  stood  in  the 
doorway,  wiping  the  sweat  of  honest  toil  from 
his  forehead.  "I've  asked  Ralph  several  ques- 
tions that  have  made  Mr.  Titus  squirm  and  got 
a  reference  from  the  Bible  that  answered  them 
every  time." 

"I'm  afraid  youVe  been  listening  to  what 
Aunt  Lillian  calls  heresy,"  Blythe  said,  an  odd 
little  smile  on  her  face.  "I  didn't  suppose  any 
member  of  the  Randall  family  would  forsake 
the  church  of  his  fathers." 

The  boy's  face  sobered  instantly.  "It's  a 
test,  surely,"  he  said.  "Ralph  and  Jean  have  no 
relatives  any  more  except  Marian  and  myself. 
Aunt  Lillian  has  forbidden  them  the  house,  and 
father  and  mother  very  nearly  did  the  same." 

"Don't  forget  me  when  you  are  mentioning 
relatives,"  Blythe  remarked,  quietly.  "I've  never 
yet  refused  to  associate  with  anyone  on  account 
of  religion,  and  I'm  going  to  visit  Jean  as  usual, 
if  she  doesn't  object." 

"Write  and  tell  her  so,"  exclaimed  Marian,  im- 


A   Religious  Argument  29 

pulsively.  "It  will  lighten  her  homesick  heart 
wonderfully." 

At  that  moment  their  attention  was  attracted 
by  the  sound  of  a  motor  in  distress,  and  shortly 
after  a  trim  coupe  limped  painfully  into  view 
from  behind  the  row  of  trees  that  bordered  the 
road. 

"Some  one  in  trouble,  I  suppose,"  observed 
Roger,  while  Blythe  rose  from  the  hammock  to 
peep  inquisitively  through  the  vine-covered  lat- 
tice. Then  she  fell  back  with  an  exclamation  of 
disgust. 

"Mr.  Titus,  as  I  live,"  she  cried.  "I  dodged 
the  social  only  to  have  the  social  come  to  me! 
Don't  you  dare  tell  him  I'm  here,  Roger." 

"I  won't  need  to,"  he  replied,  calmly;  "he's 
coming  up  to  see  for  himself.  And  I'm  going 
to  keep  him  here  for  dinner,  too,"  he  added,  mis- 
chievously. 

"Good  morning,  Roger."  It  was  the  pastor's 
voice  at  the  door.  "I'm  having  trouble  with  my 
car,  and,  knowing  you  are  a  good  hand  with  a 
motor,  I  stopped  to  see  if  you  would  help  me. 
I  must  be  in  town  as  soon  as  possible — why,  how 
are  you,  Miss  Halliday!  Mrs.  Blake  told  me 
you  were  home,  but  you  must  have  been  in  hid- 
ing." 


30  .  A  Reasonable  Service 

"Just  resting  and  getting  acquainted  with  my 
family,"  Blythe  explained.  There  was  no  great 
show  of  warmth  in  her  manner,  and  as  Roger  was 
leading  the  way  to  the  crippled  car  Mr.  Titus 
was  forced  to  follow.  The  machine,  a  gift  from 
the  grateful  members  of  his  parish,  had  not 
proved  an  unmixed  blessing  to  the  minister,  for 
he  had  no  leaning  towards  mechanics,  and  be- 
sides, it  was  difficult  to  dress  as  befitted  a  gentle- 
man of  the  cloth  and  be  ready  for  the  work  of  a 
chauffeur  as  well. 

"I  think  I  shall  have  to  hire  a  driver,"  he  ob- 
served, as  Roger  began  to  dissect  the  unruly 
motor.  "My  purse  will  hardly  permit  it,  but 
it  is  humiliating  to  be  hung  up  this  way  so  often. 
Truly  a  minister  of  the  gospel  has  a  hard  row 
to  hoe!" 

Roger  smothered  a  smile  into  the  internals  of 
the  machine,  but  ventured  no  word  of  sympathy. 
He  found  the  trouble  shortly  and  had  just 
finished  getting  the  car  in  working  order  when 
another,  a  small,  brewster-green  runabout,  drew 
up  and  stopped  in  a  swirl  of  dust. 

"Good  morning,  Mr.  Randall.  In  trouble?" 
It  was  the  county  agent,  homeward  bound  after 
a  morning  call  somewhere  in  the  country. 

"Good  morning,"  Roger  replied,  cordially,  for 


A   Religious  Argument  31 

the  young  agent  was  winning  the  confidence  of 
the  countryside,  and  he  and  Roger  had  been 
friends  and  classmates  at  the  agricultural  college 
they  had  both  attended.  "Mr.  Titus  is  having 
the  trouble,  not  I,"  and  he  introduced  the  two 
and  wondered  why  they  inspected  each  other  so 
narrowly. 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  take  you  back  to  town  with 
me,"  Neil  said  to  the  minister. 

"Thank  you,"  was  the  reply,  "but  I  think  my 
car  is  ready  for  use  again  now,  thanks  to  Roger." 

Neil  mentally  commented  that  the  explanation 
was  unnecessary,  for  Roger  was  dusty  and 
smeared  with  grease,  while  the  pastor  was  quite 
as  immaculate  as  usual.  Then  he  turned  to  the 
former. 

"I  stopped  to  see  about  putting  on  a  soil  ero- 
sion demonstration  next  week,"  he  said.  "Would 
you  consent  to  have  it  here,  or  haven't  you  any 
ditches  on  the  farm?" 

"Yes,  I  think  you  can  find  one  or  two,"  an- 
swered Roger  with  a  grin.  "But  come  on  to  the 
house,  both  of  you.  It  is  nearly  noon  and  we 
can  look  things  over  before  dinner.  My  team 
is  out  in  the  field,  anyway."  And,  overruling 
objections,  he  led  the  way  to  the  house,  where  he 


32  A  Reasonable  Service 

left  Mr.  Titus,  who  had  forgotten  his  hurry, 
while  he  and  Neil  went  to  examine  the  field. 

"Run  on  in  and  entertain  the  minister," 
Marian  commanded,  as  she  came  back  to  the 
kitchen  after  ushering  her  guest  into  the  cool 
porch,  which  was  their  summer  living  room. 

"Never!"  exclaimed  Blythe.  "I'll  fry  your 
chicken  and  mash  your  potatoes  and  do  every 
blessed  thing  that's  left  to  do  out  here,  but  I 
absolutely  balk  at  that!" 

"Perhaps  you  wouldn't  mind  entertaining 
some  of  our  company,"  suggested  Marian,  teas- 
ingly. 

"Whom  do  you  mean?"  Blythe  inquired, 
pausing  in  the  act  of  turning  the  chicken,  with 
her  fork  poised  in  the  air. 

"Mr.  Cameron.  He  is  young  and  charming. 
Haven't  you  met  him  yet?" 

"Oh,  yes.  I  have  my  own  opinion  of  his 
charm,  however." 

"Blythe,  Blythe!  You  are  impossible!  Did 
ever  a  man  breathe  that  could  meet  with  your 
requirements?" 

"As  a  source  of  entertainment,  yes.  As  an 
asset  through  life,  no.  They  are  either  atro- 
ciously impious  or  inhumanly  religious.  Give  me 
a  man  who  is  clean  even  though  red-blooded,  and 


A   Religious  Argument  33 

< 
red-blooded  even  though  he  has  a  reverent  mind 

and  gentle  hands."    Which  was  a  long  and  aston- 
ishingly serious  speech  for  Blythe. 

Marian  stared  at  her  for  a  few  surprised 
seconds.  "Well,"  she  exclaimed  at  length,  "which 
of  those  specifications  does  the  county  agent 
lack?  Is  he  too  impious  or  too  religious,  or 
what?  Roger  seems  to  like  him." 

"Which  ought  to  be  recommendation  enough 
for  anyone  in  the  eyes  of  his  wife,"  Blythe  re- 
torted, smiling.  "No,  I've  never  even  heard  a 
thing  against  him,  my  dear.  He  just  seems— 
sort  of  irreponsible — you  might  call  it  super- 
ficial." 

"I  shall  keep  an  eye  out  for  a  man  cut  after 
the  pattern  of  an  angel,"  Marian  assured  her 
with  resignation,  "and  if  I  should  find  one  I'll 
surely  send  him  around  for  inspection." 

The  return  of  Roger  and  Neil  put  an  end  to 
further  discussion,  and  soon  they  were  all 
gathered  around  a  well-laden  table.  For  a  time 
general  matters  of  interest,  more  especially  of 
farm  interest,  formed  the  topic  of  conversation, 
during  which  Mr.  Titus  devoted  himself  to  the 
fried  chicken.  He  seemed  somewhat  bored  and, 
when  a  lull  occurred,  took  advantage  of  it  to  re- 
mark: 

RS— 3 


34  A  Reasonable  Service 

"You  scientific  farmers  are  beyond  me.  I 
can't  even  discuss  your  line  of  business  with  you 
any  more.  Now  mine  is  religion,  and  naturally 
I  feel  that  the  time  has  been  wasted  to  some  ex- 
tent unless  we  talk  at  some  length  regarding 
matters  that  pertain  to  the  salvation  of  the  soul. 
I  feel  that  we  ought  all  to  give  more  time  and 
effort  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  I  am  thinking  of 
putting  on  a  series  of  revival  meetings  this  fall, 
perhaps  with  the  aid  of  some  evangelist,  and 
wherever  I  go  I  am  asking  the  help  and  coopera- 
tion of  the  people." 

He  paused,  but  no  one  spoke,  so  he  continued : 
"Of  course  we  are  all  ready  to  loosen  our  purse 
strings  and  help,  but  if  each  of  us  would  do  some 
personal  service,  think  what  an  inspiration  it 
would  be  to  the  minister!  For  instance,  Miss 
Halliday,  you  might  lend  us  the  use  of  your  voice 
— that  beautiful  gift  from  heaven.  You  can 
preach  as  eloquent  a  sermon  with  it  as  can  the 
minister  himself.  The  burning  question  each 
should  ask  him  or  herself  is,  'How  much  can  I  do 
to  save  souls?' ' 

"That  should  be  the  burning  question,  surely," 
observed  Neil,  deliberately,  "and  it  seems  that 
something  should  be  done  when  we  see  the  way 
the  world  is  going.  We  are  becoming  a  nation 


A   Religious  Argument  35 

of  Sabbath  breakers.  Our  people  are  leaving  the 
churches  to  flock  to  the  pleasure  resorts  by  the 
hundreds  on  Sundays.  Vice  and  wickedness  are 
on  every  hand.  But  there  is  another  question 
the  church  must  answer,  'What  have  I  to  give 
them  when  they  come  to  me?  If  they  come  ask- 
ing bread,  must  I  give  them  a  stone?'  I  know 
that  pleasure  draws  many  away;  but  I  have 
heard  enough  expressed  to  know  that  many  have 
tried  out  religion  and  found  it  wanting.  'If  it 
is  not  more  satisfying  than  the  world/  they  say, 
'why  bother  about  it  at  all?'  They  have  de- 
manded the  bread  of  life  and  received  a  stone, 
and  it  is  causing  widespread  dissatisfaction  with 
religion  everywhere." 

Mr.  Titus  gave  the  impression  of  recovering 
from  a  shock  to  some  of  his  inner  mechanism, 
while  Blythe  felt  temporarily  stunned.  What 
business  had  this  superficial  young  man  express- 
ing ideas  like  these? 

But  Roger,  without  waiting  for  the  pastor  to 
recover,  took  up  the  cudgel  where  Neil  had  laid 
it  down.  "That  is  much  the  way  I  feel  about 
it,"  he  said.  "I  have  gone  to  church  ever  since 
I  can  remember,  and  I  must  confess  it  seems 
more  like  a  form  of  godliness  and  a  denial  of 
the  power  thereof.  I  have  heard  men  and 


36  A  Reasonable  Service 

women  kneel  and  pray  for  the  Lord  to  speak  to 
them.  But  how  can  he  speak?  They  deny  that 
he  does  so  in  this  day  and  age  of  the  world.  Oh, 
it  stirs  my  blood  to  read  of  the  Pentecostal 
showers  given  to  the  church  of  old?  If  they 
could  speak  with  tongues  and  prophesy  under 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  those  days, 
why  cannot  those  things  be  given  now?" 

"They  could  be  given  if  they  were  needed" — 
Mr.  Titus  seemed  to  have  regained  his  breath— 
"but  we  do  not  need  direct  revelation  to-day.  We 
have  the  written  word.  Christ  had  promised  to 
send  the  Comforter,  and  it  was  sent  in  this  form 
that  the  faith  of  the  early  Christians  might  be 
strengthened.  They  were  spiritual  babes, 
whereas  we  have  progressed  beyond  that  stage." 

"Heaven  pity  them  if  they  were  any  weaker 
spiritually  than  some  of  us  to-day!"  ejaculated 
Roger,  fervently. 

But  Neil  was  speaking  again.  "Paul  tells  us 
in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  First  Corinthians,"  he 
said,  "that  'God  hath  set  some  in  the  church, 
first  apostles,  secondarily  prophets,  thirdly 
teachers,  after  that  miracles,  then  gifts  of  heal- 
ings, helps,  governments,  diversities  of  tongues.' 
If  the  Lord  changes  not,  as  Malachi,  the  very 
last  prophet  of  the  Old  Testament,  proclaims, 


A   Religious  Argument  37 

have  we  not  the  right  to  expect  those  things  in 
the  church  to-day?" 

"But  we  do  not  need  them  now."  The  pastor 
was  becoming  desperate.  "Paul  says  also  that 
'whether  there  be  prophecies  they  shall  fail; 
whether  there  be  tongues,  they  shall  cease.'  That 
time  has  come,  don't  you  see?" 

"Have  you  a  Bible,  Roger?"  Neil  asked,  and 
when  it  was  put  into  his  hands  he  turned  to  the 
thirteenth  chapter  of  the  first  Corinthian  epistle 
and  read,  "  *  Whether  there  be  prophecies,  they 
shall  fail;  whether  there  be  tongues,  they  shall 
cease ;  whether  there  be  knowledge,  it  shall  vanish 
away.  For  we  know  in  part  and  we  prophesy  in 
part.  But  when  that  which  is  perfect  is  come, 
then  that  which  is  in  part  shall  be  done  away.' 
And  in  his  letter  to  the  Ephesians,"  he  continued, 
"Paul  says  plainly  that  'He  [Christ]  gave  some, 
apostles ;  and  §ome,  prophets ;  and  some,  pastors 
and  teachers ;  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints,  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry,  for  the  edifiying  of  the 
body  of  Christ;  till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of 
the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of 
God,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature  of  the  full- 
ness of  Christ.'  So,  you  see,  these  things  are  to 
remain  in  the  church  until  she  has  reached  that 


38  A  Reasonable  Service 

state  of  perfection  when  she  does  not  need  them 
any  more." 

"That  is  just  what  I  have  been  trying  to  tell 
you."  Mr.  Titus  was  somewhat  triumphant. 
"That  is  why  we  do  not  need  them  to-day." 

"I'm  afraid  we  are  still  a  long  way  from  per- 
fection," Neil  said,  slowly,  "and  the  world  was 
never  farther  from  a  unity  of  faith  than  to-day, 
with  a  Presbyterian  church  on  one  corner,  a 
Methodist  on  another,  a  Christian,  a  Catholic,  a 
Baptist  in  between,  while  mystic  shrines  and 
spiritualistic  mediums  flourish  everywhere  in  our 
cities." 

Mr.  Titus  hastily  finished  his  last  bite  of 
strawberry  shortcake  and  rose  from  the  table. 

"You  will  excuse  me  for  leaving  so  soon,  won't 
you,  Mrs.  Randall?  I  have  enjoyed  your  excel- 
lent dinner  so  much  I  really  hadn't  noticed  how 
late  it  is  getting.  Sometime,  when  I  have  more 
time  at  my  disposal,  I  should  like  to  finish  this 
interesting  argument,  Mr.  Cameron.  If  you  are 
going  to  the  social,  Miss  Halliday,  why  not  give 
me  the  pleasure  of  your  company?" 

"Thank  you,  Mr.  Titus,  but  I'm  not  planning 
on  going.  I  had  forgotten  about  it  and  promised 
to  spend  the  day  here,  so  I  had  to  turn  down 
Aunt  Lillian's  invitation  this  morning."  Blythe's 


A   Religious  Argument  39 

cheeks  were  flushed  and  her  pulses  singing,  for 
she  scented  battle  in  the  glances  the  two  men  ex- 
changed, and  somehow  her  opinion  of  Neil  had 
risen  several  degrees  in  the  last  half  hour. 

"Are  you  an  ex-minister,  Mr.  Cameron?"  she 
inquired,  when  they  were  left  alone  for  a  few 
minutes. 

"Not  I!"  Neil  replied,  smiling.  "No  one 
ever  accused  me  of  that  before." 

"Then  where  did  you  learn  to  quote  scripture?" 
she  persisted.  "Do  you  study  your  Bible  while 
you  race  about  in  that  green  runabout  looking 
after  the  interests  of  the  rural  citizens  of  the 
county?" 

There  was  a  faint  smile  on  Neil's  lips,  and  his 
eyes  were  very  tender  as  he  replied,  "I  had  a 
mother,  once." 

Blythe  pondered  over  many  things  as  she 
walked  home  across  the  fields  at  sunset  with  Lad- 
die frisking  beside  her.  The  words  she  had  heard 
quoted  from  the  Book  of  all  books  kept  repeat- 
ing themselves  in  her  mind  with  unceasing  force. 
She  had  a  feeling,  vague  but  inexpressibly  sweet, 
of  following  again  some  dim  trail  of  childhood 
that  her  feet  had  stumbled  upon  after  years  of 
wandering.  The  sun  sank  behind  the  horizon 
and  the  evening  star  peeped  softly  out  of  the 


40  A  Reasonable  Service 

afterglow.  As  she  lifted  her  eyes  to  its  pure, 
white  radiance,  a  prayer,  sincere  though  unut- 
tered,  leaped  from  the  restless,  unsatisfied  depths 
of  her  soul,  "Help  me,  O  Father  of  Light,  to 
find  the  way  that  leads  to  thee!" 


A  Creature  of  Circumstance 


A  Reasonable  Service  43 

CHAPTER  3 

A   CREATURE  OF   CIRCUMSTANCE 

r  I  ^HE  summer  days  passed  swiftly  for 
\^  Blythe.  She  was  busy  at  home  helping 
Hester  keep  the  household  machinery  run- 
ning, and  with  the  various  activities  of  the  church 
she  attended  in  Sardis,  of  which  the  Reverend 
Claude  Titus  was  pastor.  Her  one  great  gift,  a 
full  soprano  voice  of  wonderful  sweetness, 
seemed  always  in  demand,  yet  she  wondered 
sometimes  as  she  sang  if  she  really  were  lighten- 
ing the  burden  of  care  on  some  of  the  tired  faces 
upturned  to  hers — for  they  were  there,  depressed 
and  weary,  even  in  the  congregation  of  Grace 
Church,  the  richest  and  most  exclusive  in  the 
little  city.  She  felt  an  inexplainable  longing  to 
be  of  more  use  in  the  world — just  how,  she 
could  not  tell.  Surely  this  was  not  the  kind  of 
service  rendered  by  the  man  of  Nazareth  as  he 
walked  the  shores  of  Galilee.  Surely  there  was 
something  to  do  besides  singing  Sunday  after 
Sunday  to  the  richly  clad  occupants  of  the  Grace 
Church  pews. 

She  voiced  something  of  this  to  her  uncle  one 


44  A  Reasonable  Service 

Sunday,  as  she  stood  on  the  veranda  where  he 
sat  reading,  after  her  return  with  Mrs.  Blake 
from  church — for  John  Blake  seldom  attended 
services  at  Grace  Church. 

"Do  you  think,  Uncle  John,"  she  said,  as  she 
stood  flipping  her  gloves  discontentedly  against 
the  veranda  rail,  "that  I'm  really  useful  enough 
to  deserve  a  place  on  this  old  earth?" 

Mr.  Blake  looked  somewhat  startled  at 
Blythe's  outburst.  "Why,  I  had  never  thought 
of  it  just  that  way,"  he  answered,  peering  at  her 
over  his  glasses,  "but  I  know  one  place  would 
seem  mighty  empty  without  you." 

"Please  be  serious,  uncle,"  she  begged,  sitting 
down  on  the  arm  of  his  chair  and  rumpling  his 
hair  affectionately.  "I'm  dreadfully  out  of  sorts 
with  myself,  lately.  Here  I  am,  helping  Hester 
when  I  feel  like  it,  and  going  off  for  a  good 
time  whenever  I  feel  like  doing  that.  Why,  I 
even  have  them  filed  away  ahead  of  time  like 
business  engagements.  Bob  Weston  was  home 
to-day  from  the  city  and  wanted  to  arrange  at 
least  three  theater  parties  during  my  intended 
visit  at  Jean's.  He  was  real  cross  when  I  told 
him  'Sufficient  unto  the  day  is  the  evil  thereof.' 
Dear  old  Bob!"  she  added,  with  a  little  thought- 
ful smile. 


A   Creature  of  Circumstance  45 

"Is  that  the  way  you  feel  about  him?"  in- 
quired Mr.  Blake,  watching  her  face  keenly. 

"Yes,  just  as  I  used  to  feel  when  we  robbed 
Hester's  cooky  jar  and  divided  the  spoils  out 
under  the  apple  trees.  He  is  just  the  same,  only 
grown  a  little  bigger." 

"He  has  a  good  position  in  the  city  now,  hasn't 
he?"  John  Blake's  eyes  were  still  studying  the 
girl's  profile. 

"Oh,  yes — with  Grandfather  Weston,  who  in- 
creases Bob's  salary  to  suit  his  wants." 

"Are  you  a  cynic,  Blythe?" 

"I  wonder!"  Her  voice  was  tired,  and  with  a 
sudden  gesture  he  swept  her  into  the  shelter  of 
his  arms. 

"Honey,"  he  said,  gently,  "never  marry  any 
man  unless  you  respect  him  for  his  manhood  and 
true  worth,  as  well  as  love  him,  and  if  you  can 
do  that,  don't  worry  too  much  about  his  bank  ac- 
count." 

Blythe  was  silent  for  a  few  moments,  then  re- 
turned to  the  subject  of  her  grievance.  "And 
then  on  Sundays,"  she  went  on,  with  a  gesture  of 
disgust,  "after  every  service  here  comes  some 
one  with  the  senseless  flattery  that  some  people 
seem  to  think  should  be  dosed  out  regularly.  It 
affects  me  just  as  too  much  candy  did  when  I 


46  A  Reasonable  Service 

was  a  youngster.  If  I  could  feel  that  I  actually 
helped  some  one,  instead  of  merely  pleasing  the 
artistic  ear — I've  heard  of  the  ministry  of  music, 
but  I  don't  believe  that  anyone  who  goes  to 
Grace  Church  needs  it!" 

Mr.  Blake  took  his  spectacles  off,  wiped  them, 
and  tried  to  put  them  on  again  upside  down,  a 
sure  sign  he  was  perturbed.  "You  keep  right  on 
singing  at  Grace  Church,  honey,"  he  admonished. 
1  'I  know  some  who  go  there,  and  they've  told  me 
they  get  more  good  from  your  singing  than  any 
other  part  of  the  service — and  it  wasn't  any  of 
those  who  give  you  regular  doses  of  flattery, 
either.  I  wonder — ,"  he  hesitated  and  regarded 
her  thoughtfully.  "Be  ready  right  after  dinner, 
and  we'll  take  a  little  trip  this  afternoon — and 
have  some  of  your  best  music  along,"  he  con- 
cluded. 

He  was  on  the  porch  again  when  Blythe  ap- 
peared at  the  appointed  time,  cool  and  fresh  in 
blue  linen,  with  a  big  roll  of  music  under  her 
arm. 

"Not  knowing  what  will  be  expected  of  me," 
she  said  gayly,  "I  tried  to  come  well  supplied." 

"What  have  you  here?"  he  asked,  turning  the 
pieces  over  critically.  "Better  run  and  get  that 


A   Creature  of  Circumstance  47 

book  of  old  songs.  You  won't  need  much  of  this 
new-fangled  stuff." 

"All  right."  Blythe's  good  humor  was  un- 
impaired. "I'll  take  this,  too,  though.  I  want 
to  be  prepared  for  anything." 

"Where  are  you  two  going?"  inquired  Mrs. 
Blake,  languidly,  from  the  depths  of  a  big  wicker 
chair,  as  the  girl  disappeared. 

"To  the  county  poor  farm."  There  was  a  half- 
smile  on  her  husband's  face  as  he  answered. 
"Want  to  go  along?" 

"Good  gracious,  no!"  was  the  shocked  reply. 
"What  in  the  world  are  you  going  there  for?  I 
should  think  Blythe  would  be  tired  enough  to 
stay  at  home  and  rest  this  hot  afternoon!  She 
has  to  be  at  the  services  again  to-night,  too." 

But  Mr.  Blake  just  then  perceived  Blythe  re- 
turning through  the  hall,  and  beating  a  hasty 
retreat,  piloted  her  out  through  a  side  door  and 
into  the  waiting  car.  He  took  the  opposite  direc- 
tion from  Sardis,  and  for  a  dozen  miles  the 
"chummy"  roadster,  which  was  its  driver's  spe- 
cial favorite,  glided  along  while  Blythe  vainly 
racked  her  brain  in  an  effort  to  guess  where  they 
were  going,  and  proudly  refrained  from  asking. 

"Some  one  in  trouble,  I  suppose,"  he  observed 
as  they  spied  a  small,  brewster-green  runabout 


48  A  Reasonable  Service 

stalled  at  the  side  of  the  road  a  short  distance 
ahead.  "Why,  it  is  Neil  Cameron!''  and  he  drew 
up  with  a  friendly  inquiry. 

"Yes,  sir;  I  do  seem  to  be  in  some  trouble," 
Neil  admitted,  ruefully  regarding  a  damaged 
tire.  "This  is  my  second  blowout  to-day,  and  my 
supply  of  patches  is  gone,  too." 

"Run  the  car  on  to  the  next  house  on  the  rim," 
advised  Mr.  Blake.  "Then  get  in  and  take  a  spin 
with  us,  and  we'll  hunt  a  garage  and  get  a  new 
tire  before  we  come  back,  if  you  wish.  It  is  only 
a  few  miles  to  the  next  town.  I  know  the  man 
who  lives  down  the  road  a  few  rods,  and  he'll  look 
after  your  car  until  we  get  back,  if  he's  at  home." 
The  farmer  proved  to  be  at  home,  and  soon  the 
roadster  was  purring  along  the  dusty  road,  Neil 
in  the  back  seat,  in  the  midst  of  what  seemed  to 
be  a  miniature  horticultural  display. 

"Going  to  the  fair,  Mr.  Blake?"  he  inquired 
with  a  smile. 

"No;  just  a  visit  to  some  friends  of  mine,"  was 
the  reply.  "I  have  Blythe  guessing;  now  you  do 
the  same.  Ever  meet  the  young  fellow  before 
who  lives  back  there  where  you  left  the  car?"  he 
asked,  as  they  bowled  along  fast  enough  to  fan 
away  the  heat  of  the  August  sun,  yet  slow 
enough  so  conversation  was  not  difficult.  "He 


A   Creature  of  Circumstance  49 

went  to  college  with  Roger  and  remembered 
you." 

"I  thought  his  face  and  name  seemed  familiar," 
Neil  replied;  "but  I  could  not  think  where  I  had 
seen  him.  He  has  a  nice  little  home  there." 

"He's  renting,"  Mr.  Blake  said.  "Bought  a 
place  of  his  own  a  few  years  ago,  made  a  pay- 
ment down,  and  was  getting  along  splendidly. 
Then  last  spring  he  lost  nearly  all  of  his  hogs, 
which  he  had  been  depending  on  to  sell  and  raise 
the  money  to  meet  his  payments  with,  and  lost 
them  so  near  the  time  his  interest  was  due  that 
the  banks  couldn't  help  him  out  on  such  short 
notice  because  of  the  tightness  of  the  financial 
situation.  Some  modern  Shylock  in  the  city  held 
the  mortgage,  who  refused  to  give  the  boy  more 
time  and  kicked  him  out,  minus  several  thousand 
dollars.  He  came  to  me  for  help,  but  I  had 
everything  tied  up,  too,  just  then.  He  thought 
pretty  seriously  of  leaving  the  farm  altogether 
for  a  while,  but  one  day  when  I  was  talking  to 
him  he  gritted  his  teeth  and  said,  "I'm  going  to 
rent  a  farm  next  year,  Mr.  Blake.  I'll  show  that 
old  thief  he  can't  put  me  out  of  business,  with  all 
his  dirty  dollars!"  He's  making  good  now,  be- 
cause both  he  and  his  plucky  little  wife  have  the 
courage ;  but  that  shows  what  is  going  on  in  busi- 

RS— 4 


50  A  Reasonable  Service 

ness  every  day — the  survival  of  the  man  with  the 
biggest  capital  back  of  him,  and  the  crushing  of 
the  smaller  struggler  who  is  honestly  trying  to 
earn  a  living  and  a  home.  It  is  within  the  bounds 
of  the  law,  but  not  the  bonds  of  brotherhood." 

"Brotherhood  is  something  modern  society 
cares  little  about  in  a  general  sense,"  Neil  said, 
thoughtfully.  "I  have  had  a  chance  to  observe 
conditions,  both  in  the  city  and  country,  and  I 
am  convinced  that  if  we  had  a  system  in  opera- 
tion of  which  the  brotherhood  of  man  was  the 
underlying  principle,  a  system  in  which  the  strug- 
gling laborer  or  business  man  of  small  means 
would  be  given  a  helping  hand  instead  of  a  kick, 
that  we  should  go  farther  towards  solving  the 
labor  difficulties  of  to-day  than  all  the  strikes  and 
arbitration  committees  in  the  world." 

"Yes,  but  where  would  you  find  anyone  in  this 
selfish  old  world  to  work  out  this  system — enough 
people  to  make  it  practicable?  Individual  effort 
is  nothing  more  than  charity  in  many  cases- 
helping  the  one  who  is  hard  up  over  one  tight 
place,  only  to  do  it  again  when  he  needs  it  the 
next  time." 

"It  shall  be  done,  I  think,"  Neil  answered  with 
conviction.  "No  one  has  studied  the  situation  but 
will  admit  that  the  world  at  large  is  in  a  par- 


A   Creature  of  Circumstance  51 

oxysm  of  money-grabbing,  of  wickedness,  and 
heedless  personal  liberty  and  pleasure;  yet  there 
are  some,  I  am  sure,  who  still  have  higher  ideals 
at  heart,  who  work  for  and  dream  of  the  time 
when  there  shall  be  neither  want  nor  misery 
among  the  children  of  men!" 

"You  are  a  dreamer,"  said  John  Blake.  "I  was 
one  myself  once.  I  have  developed  into  a  cynic, 
though  a  charitable  one,  I  hope,  if  the  combina- 
tion is  not  impossible." 

Blythe  listened  to  the  conversation  with  inter- 
est. It  was  one  of  Mrs.  Blake's  grievances  that 
as  a  small  girl  she  would  leave  the  chatter  of  the 
afternoon  club  to  sit  on  the  sunny  doorstep  with 
Uncle  John  and  an  unwilling  man  or  two  who 
had,  of  necessity,  come  as  driver  for  a  carriage 
load  of  womenfolk,  and  listen  to  them  with 
delight  as  they  discussed  the  weather  or  politics. 
Just  now  she  was  debating  in  her  own  mind  what 
manner  of  young  man  this  was.  She  had  met 
him  often  during  the  summer  at  the  informal 
gatherings  of  the  young  people  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, where  he  was  a  frequent  guest,  and  found 
her  liking  for  him  increasing  as  they  became  bet- 
ter acquainted.  She  had  never  seen  him  at  church, 
nor  heard  him  mention  religion  since  the  day  of 
Mr.  Titus 's  rout,  and  mentally  classified  him  as 


52  A  Reasonable  Service 

one  of  those  who  had  asked  for  bread  and  re- 
ceived a  stone  and  turned  away  in  disgust. 

She  was  roused  from  her  reverie  by  a  shifting 
of  the  gears  as  Mr.  Blake  turned  into  a  side  road, 
climbed  a  long  grade,  and  drove  in  through  a 
maple-shaded  driveway  to  a  large  building  set 
in  the  middle  of  a  grassy  lawn. 

"The  county  farm!  Uncle  John,  why  did  you 
come  here?"  Blythe  asked  in  surprise. 

"You  know  what  you  told  me  before  dinner. 
I  brought  you  here  to  sing  for  these  friendless 
people." 

"But,  perhaps  they  don't  want  me  to!"  She 
was  plainly  upset  at  the  idea. 

"Wouldn't  you,  if  you  were  in  the  poorhouse?" 

Blythe  suppressed  a  shudder  and  met  her  un- 
cle's eyes  squarely.  "I'll  not  fail  you,  Uncle 
John,"  she  said,  "but  find  out  before  I  commit 
myself,  please." 

A  few  moments  later  the  three  were  greeting 
the  inmates  of  the  home,  who  were  gathered  on 
the  big  porch. 

"This  young  lady  has  come  to  sing  for  you." 
The  caretaker's  wife,  who  had  cordially  assured 
Blythe  that  her  services  would  be  welcomed,  ad- 
dressed her  charges.  The  girl's  heart  ached  as 
she  looked  at  them — most  of  them  old  and  infirm 


A  Creature  of  Circumstance  53 

and  bearing  evidence  of  having  seen  happier 
days.  Some  seemed  openly  delighted  at  the  pros- 
pect, while  others  merely  scowled.  However,  they 
all  filed  into  the  living  room,  as  the  matron  led 
the  way  to  the  piano,  for  at  least  this  offered  a 
break  in  the  dull  monotony  of  their  lives. 

"Do  you  prefer  to  play  your  accompaniments, 
Miss  Halliday?"  Neil  inquired,  as  he  unstrapped 
her  music  case.  "I'm  not  much  of  a  musician, 
but  I  used  to  play  for  the  college  glee  club  when 
there  was  no  one  else  around  who  could." 

"I  shall  certainly  appreciate  it,"  she  replied. 
"I  hardly  supposed  you  had  time  for  such  things. 
Now,  if  any  of  you  have  a  favorite  song  in  mind," 
she  said,  as  she  faced  her  audience,  "tell  me 
what  it  is  and  I'll  do  my  best." 

"Marchin'  through  Georgy!"  shouted  a  little 
old  man,  in  a  cracked  voice,  and  she  sang  it 
through  to  Neil's  rousing  accompaniment.  But 
his  fingers  were  gentle  on  the  keys  when  a  sweet- 
faced,  white-haired  lady  asked  for  "When  the 
swallows  homeward  fly."  Blythe,  glancing  at 
her  as  she  sang,  wondered  what  wave  of  adversity 
had  cast  her  here.  Her  hair,  snowy  white,  waved 
softly  back  from  a  face  delicate  and  refined  and 
evidently  beautiful  at  one  time,  but  now  disfig- 
ured by  an  ugly  scar  across  the  forehead.  There 


54  A  Reasonable  Service 

were  fine  lines  of  suffering  about  her  mouth,  but 
her  gray  eyes  were  full  of  sympathy  and  sweet- 
ness. 

They  ran  the  gamut  of  the  old  songs,  and 
when  "Old  Black  Joe"  and  "Carry  me  back  to 
Old  Virginny"  threatened  to  bring  the  tears, 
Blythe  swung  into  "Comin'  thru  the  rye,"  for 
her  own  voice  was  none  too  steady  at  times.  The 
old  hymns  were  not  forgotten,  and  they  ended 
with  "Should  auld  acquaintance  be  forgot,"  in 
which  everyone  joined,  with  more  zest,  perhaps, 
than  harmony. 

During  the  concert  the  contents  of  the  car 
were  transferred  to  a  tub  of  cold  water,  and  soon 
the  whole  company  was  on  the  lawn  exclaiming 
happily  over  huge  slices  of  melon.  Although 
Blythe  had  been  the  object  of  distrust  at  first, 
she  discovered  that  she  had  become  immensely 
popular  as  she  went  about  among  them  after  she 
had  sung  her  way  into  their  hearts. 

She  found  herself  watching  the  sweet-faced  old 
lady,  who  was  sitting  a  little  apart  from  the  oth- 
ers, and  presently  went  over  and  sat  down  on 
the  grass  at  her  feet. 

By  and  by  the  two  slipped  away  together, 
and  in  a  few  moments  Neil's  listening  ear  caught 
the  sound  of  the  piano  again.  He  rose  and  walked 


A   Creature  of  Circumstance  55 

casually  away,  reaching  by  a  roundabout  path  a 
place  just  outside  the  open  window,  where  a 
clump  of  bushes  screened  him  from  both  the 
house  and  the  group  on  the  lawn.  Throwing 
himself  on  the  soft  grass,  he  lay  looking  up  at 
the  amethyst  sky  while  he  listened  to  the  music 
within,  where  Blythe  was  playing  softly  a  rhyth- 
mic barcarolle  that  flowed  under  her  fingers  like 
quiet  water. 

"I  can  see  it  all  when  I  close  my  eyes,"  her 
auditor  cried,  when  the  notes  ceased  in  a  long, 
softly  drawn  chord.  "The  boatman  pulling  home 
in  the  twilight,  with  the  water  swishing  against 
the  sides  of  the  boat  and  the  white  clouds  in  the 
west  rolling  back  like  gates  of  pearl.  It  has  been 
so  long  since  I  have  heard  real  music  that  this  is 
a  treat  to  my  soul!" 

"Listen  again,"  Blythe  said,  "and  you  will  see 
a  butterfly  among  the  flowers  in  the  garden." 
And  she  began  a  light,  dancing  movement  with 
her  right  hand  while  her  left  swayed  the  flowers 
gently  like  a  summer  wind.  She  was  doing  her 
best,  under  the  inspiration  of  a  sympathetic  lis- 
tener. Sometimes  she  played  the  instrument 
alone;  sometimes  she  joined  her  sweet  young 
voice  to  its  tones.  At  last,  evidently  in  response 


56  A  Reasonable  Service 

to  a  request,  her  fingers  touched  a  chord,  and  a 
voice,  low  and  tender,  but  not  her  own,  began: 


"Lead,  kindly  Light,  amid  th'  encircling  gloom, 

Lead  Thou  me  on; 

The  night  is  dark  and  I  am  far  from  home, 
Lead  Thou  me  on." 


Neil  found  himself  on  his  feet,  his  pulses  tin- 
gling. Where  had  he  heard  that  voice  before? 
Blindly  his  mind  groped  back  through  the  years 
and  he  saw  himself,  a  tired  little  boy,  lying  in 
his  mother's  arms,  with  his  curly  head  nestled  on 
her  shoulder,  while  she  sang  him  to  sleep  with 
this  same  old  hymn  that  was  half  a  prayer. 

He  heard  the  closing  of  a  door,  and  looking 
out  through  the  screen  of  bushes,  saw  th©  two  go 
down  the  steps  and  back  to  the  group  on  the 
lawn,  Blythe's  arm  around  the  older  woman's 
waist.  Strangely  white  and  shaken,  he  went  di- 
rectly to  the  car,  and  Blythe  wondered  why  he 
was  so  quiet  during  the  drive  home. 

When  they  were  back  at  the  farmhouse,  with 
the  new  tire  in  place  on  the  brewster-green  runa- 
bout and  Mr.  Blake  engrossed  in  conversation 
with  his  young  friend,  Neil  came  directly  to 
Blythe's  side  of  the  car. 


A   Creature  of  Circumstance  57 

"I  must  thank  you  and  your  uncle  for  the 
afternoon,  Miss  Halliday,  perhaps  in  more  ways 
than  one;  but  at  least  I  feel  that  I  never  should 
have  known  you  as  I  do  now  but  for  this  ex- 
perience. I  was  just  outside  on  the  grass  while 
you  were  playing  for  your  friend,"  he  went  on, 
flushing  a  little,  "and  I  wondered,  after  listening 
to  you  at  the  keyboard,  what  you  must  think  of 
me  for  offering  my  services !" 

"I  considered  it  very  kind  of  you,"  she  an- 
swered, her  level  gaze  on  his  face,  "and  I  appre- 
ciate it  much  more  than  I  do  your  unbidden  pres- 
ence later  on,  which  you  confess  so  shamelessly!" 

"Don't  be  too  hard  on  me,"  he  begged.  "Isn't 
the  ripple  of  the  water  and  the  wind  among  the 
flowers  and  the  music  of  the  song  bird  Nature's 
own  free  music?  Then,  too,  I  felt  strangely  at- 
tracted to  the  lady  you  were  entertaining.  Do 
you  know  her  name  or  history?" 

"She  is  by  far  the  dearest  old  lady  I  ever 
knew!"  Blythe  replied,  somewhat  pacified.  "She 
is  a  musician  herself,  and  I'm  going  to  send  her 
some  of  the  music  she  likes  and  doesn't  have 
there.  She  told  me  how  she  came  to  be  where 
she  is.  She  was  returning  home  from  the  bed- 
side of  a  sister  who  had  been  sick,  and  a  terrible 
railroad  accident  occurred.  Her  head  was  in- 


58  A  Reasonable  Service 

jured — perhaps  you  noticed  the  scar — and  she 
thinks  it  must  have  unbalanced  her  mind,  and 
she  wandered  away  when  no  one  saw  her,  for 
when  she  came  to  herself  she  was  miles  from 
where  it  happened,  with  a  family  of  poor  peo- 
ple, and  ill  in  bed.  They  did  not  know  who  she 
was,  and  for  a  long  time  she  could  not  even  re- 
member her  own  name.  Then,  when  her  memory 
came  back  and  she  wrote  to  her  people,  she  could 
get  no  answer.  She  was  not  strong  enough  to 
work,  and  she  did  not  wish  to  impose  upon  her 
benefactors  any  longer,  so  she  left  them  and 
went — where  we  found  her  to-day." 

Blythe,  gazing  into  the  distance  as  she  talked, 
did  not  notice  that  Neil  had  grown  very  white. 
"You  did  not  learn  her  name?"  he  asked.  But 
Mr.  Blake,  returning  just  then,  unwittingly  in- 
terrupted with  a  question,  and  Blythe  had  no 
chance  to  answer. 

"Well,  how  did  you  like  my  missionary  meet- 
ing?" inquired  her  uncle,  as  they  drove  into  the 
sunset  towards  home. 

"It  was  the  best  I  ever  attended,"  Blythe  re- 
plied, "and  I  believe  I  learned  something  of  the 
ministry  of  music  to-day.  It  makes  my  heart 
ache  to  see  those  people,  though.  They  should  be 
in  homes  of  their  own!  Did  you  notice  my  lady 


A   Creature  of  Circumstance  59 

of  the  white  hair?  She  isn't  happy  there!  She 
doesn't  belong  there!" 

"Very  few  of  them  do  belong  there,"  replied 
Mr.  Blake.  "They  are  creatures  of  circum- 
stances. If  you  should  inquire  you  would  find 
that  most  of  them  came  from  towns  or  cities. 
They  have  received  a  living  wage  all  their  lives, 
but  not  enough  more  to  prepare  for  old  age. 
Consequently,  when  they  cannot  work  any  longer 
there  is  only  one  thing  ahead  of  them — the  alms- 
house." 

They  drove  on  in  silence  for  a  while,  but  as 
they  mounted  the  crest  of  a  hill,  Blythe  obeyed 
a  sudden  impulse  to  look  behind,  and  saw  the 
brewster-green  runabout  turn  back  over  the  way 
they  had  come. 


A  Severed  Friendship 


A  Reasonable  Service  63 

CHAPTER  4 

A  SEVERED  FRIENDSHIP 

G3OD  afternoon,  Jeannie!  May  I  enter  the 
shrine  where  Genius  burns  her  incense?" 
The  young  woman  at  the  easel  turned 
at  the  sound  of  Blythe's  voice,  and,  rising 
quickly,  came  forward  to  greet  the  girl  in  the 
doorway.  Although  there  was  an  eager  friend- 
liness about  her  movements,  there  was  also  a  cer- 
tain dignified  grace  that  went  well  with  the 
thoughtful  expression  in  her  brown  eyes  and 
the  Madonna-like  sweetness  of  her  face.  She  was 
somewhat  older  than  Blythe  and  there  was  a  big- 
sisterly  air  in  the  way  she  put  her  arms  around 
the  girl  and  welcomed  her  in  the  usual  feminine 
fashion. 

"I  was  beginning  to  think  you  were  never  com- 
ing again,"  she  said.  "Did  the  fact  that  we  have 
joined  the  church  that  we  have  make  any  differ- 
ence?" She  put  the  question  directly  and  Blythe 
answered  her  in  like  manner. 

"Not  a  bit.  You  have  a  right  to  your  own 
way  of  believing,  and  if  you  are  satisfied  I'm 
sure  I  don't  see  why  anyone  else  should  object." 


64  A  Reasonable  Service 

"I  can't  tell  you  how  glad  I  am  that  you  feel 
that  way  about  it,  Blythe."  Jean's  voice  broke  a 
little  as  she  spoke.  "It  has  cost  us  many  one- 
time friendships,  but  somehow  I  couldn't  bear  to 
lose  you,  too,  dear." 

"No  danger.  But  why  aren't  you  showing  me 
your  latest  production?  I  came  to  be  enter- 
tained." 

"It  is  ready  for  criticism,  so  do  your  worst," 
replied  Jean  with  a  smile,  leading  the  way  to  the 
easel. 

"Why,  Jean!"  cried  the  girl,  impetuously. 
"It  is  simply  exquisite!  Such  blending  of  colors 
and  that  suggestion  of  haze  in  the  background! 
You'll  be  a  real  artist  some  day,  Jeannie  dear; 
but  really  you  should  go  out  into  the  country 
and  get  reacquainted  with  it  before  you  attempt 
to  paint  country  sunsets.  Don't  you  know  that 
a  pig  in  the  foreground  destroys  the  peace  of  the 
scene  for  anyone  at  all  acquainted  with  pigs?" 

"How  you  do  lift  me  to  the  stars  and  then  drop 
me  into  the  depths!"  Jean  complained,  disgust- 
edly. "That  isn't  a  pig  at  all — it  is  a  red  bowl- 
der!" 

"Paint  it  out,  anyway,"  advised  the  unper- 
turbed Blythe.  "No  self-respecting  farmer 


A  Severed  Friendship  65 

would  tolerate  a  bowlder  in  his  hayfield,  even  for 
ornamental  purposes." 

"If  all  critics  are  as  heartless  as  you,  I've  no 
show  at  all,"  said  Jean  with  resignation,  as  she 
put  away  paints  and  brushes.  "Come  on  into  the 
kitchen.  You  are  a  better  cook  than  art  critic, 
any  day." 

"That  is  a  more  useful  accomplishment,  any- 
how," Ely  the  replied,  and  soon  they  were  busy 
at  the  household  tasks  over  which  womenfolk 
love  to  converse  as  they  work. 

"We  are  having  tent  meetings  now — services 
every  night,"  Jean  remarked,  when  they  were  all 
seated  around  the  dinner  table  after  Ralph's  re- 
turn from  work.  "I  wonder  if  you  would  care  to 
go,  Blythe." 

"Why,  certainly,"  was  the  somewhat  unex- 
pected reply,  "I'll  go  if  you  are  going." 

She  was  sitting  idly  in  the  porch  swing  an  hour 
later,  waiting  for  the  others  to  come  out,  when  a 
handsome  coupe  drew  up  before  the  house.  A 
young  man,  well  groomed  and  prosperous  look- 
ing, ran  up  the  steps  and  stopped  with  a  salute 
and  a  mischievous  smile  on  his  face  at  sight  of 
her. 

"Well,  fair  princess,"  he  said  with  a  bow,  "I 
discovered  your  retreat,  didn't  II" 
RS— 5 


66  A  Reasonable  Service 

"How  did  you  know  I  came?"  she  demanded. 
"You  saw  me  in  Sardis  yesterday,  and  no  one 
knew  I  was  coming  until  an  hour  before  I  left 
home." 

"I  know  your  ways,"  he  replied,  provokingly. 
"I  haven't  picked  up  your  handkerchiefs  and  car- 
ried your  schoolbooks  and  made  a  regular  dog 
of  myself  for  nothing  all  these  years!" 

"And  pulled  my  hair  and  tipped  over  my  ink 
bottle  and  made  life  miserable  at  least  half  the 
time!  You  are  surely  to  be  pitied,  Bob!" 

Yet  she  knew  that  she  was  very  fond  of  him 
as  he  sat  down  beside  her  and  began  in  his  old, 
coaxing  way,  "There's  a  road  just  out  of  town 
that  winds  along  the  crest  of  a  ridge,  with  a  val- 
ley on  either  side  filled  with  little  farms  and  pur- 
ple shadows  and  twinkling  lights.  There's  a  car 
all  ready  to  go,  with  soft  cushions  and  a  chap  just 
aching  to  take  the  wheel  if  he  can  get  the  best 
girl  in  the  world  to  occupy  half  the  front  seat." 

"Where's  the  pretty  stenographer  and  the 
blue-eyed  heiress  and  the  dusky-haired  violin 
teacher  you've  been  telling  me  about?" 

"Oh,  bother!  They're  all  right  when  you  aren't 
accessible,  but  you  know  they  are  only  substi- 
tutes. You  wouldn't  have  me  wasting  my  gaso- 
line on  the  desert  air,  would  you?" 


A  Severed  Friendship  67 

"Certainly  not.  But  I've  promised  to  go  with 
Jean  and  Ralph  to-night,  so  I  can't  go  this  time." 

"Where,  may  I  ask?" 

"To  church— at  the  tent." 

Bob's  eyes  narrowed  a  little  and  the  smile  left 
his  lips.  "Don't  fool  with  those  Mormons,"  he 
said.  "Ralph  and  Jean  are  two  of  the  best  peo- 
ple in  the  world  and  they  hooked  them  in." 

"You  ought  to  know  I'm  not  easily  hooked, 
Bobby."  It  was  Blythe's  turn  to  tease.  "But 
if  they  have  anything  worth  hearing,  why  not 
hear  it?  Come  with  us  and  listen,  too." 

"I  won't,"  Bob  said,  flatly,  standing  up  to 
make  it  more  emphatic.  "Chuck  the  whole  thing 
and  come  on,  please,"  he  pleaded,  changing  his 
tactics. 

"I'll  confess  I  am  curious  to  hear  what  they 
have  to  offer,"  she  returned,  without  moving.  "If 
they  are  such  monsters  as  they  are  reported  to 
be  by  some,  I  want  to  see  them.  It  would  be  bet- 
ter than  going  to  the  zoo!" 

"Very  well,  I'll  come  when  your  time  isn't  so 
fully  occupied,"  he  replied,  shortly,  as  he  turned 
away,  and  in  a  moment  the  car  was  only  a  moving 
gray  shadow  in  the  dusk. 

"Where  did  Bob  go?"  inquired  Jean,  coming 
out  just  then.  "I  thought  I  heard  his  voice." 


68  A  Reasonable  Service 

"You  did/'  Blythe  assured  her,  "but  I  refused 
to  go  for  a  ride,  and  he  went  away  in  a  pet.  He'll 
be  all  right  in  a  day  or  two." 

"May  we  have  your  help  in  the  choir  to-night?" 
Jean  asked  as  they  entered  the  lighted  tent,  al- 
ready well  filled. 

"Not  to-night,"  was  the  answer.  "Run  along 
and  do  your  duty.  I  prefer  to  sit  and  listen." 

She  looked  in  vain  for  any  signs  of  Satanic 
influence  among  the  crowd  as  she  took  her  seat. 
"If  there  are  nonmembers  here,  as  Ralph  says 
there  are  every  night,"  she  thought,  "the  Saints 
must  look  very  much  like  them,  for  I  can't  tell 
one  from  the  other." 

Even  her  well-trained  ear  did  not  detect  any 
serious  flaws  in  the  music  rendered  by  the  choir, 
and  when  the  speaker  arose,  a  man  a  little  past 
the  prime  of  life,  whose  dark  hair  showed  a  fine 
peppering  of  gray,  she  gave  him  her  undivided 
attention. 

Perhaps  it  was  fortunate  that  he  chose  to  speak 
that  night  on  the  origin  of  the  church  he  repre- 
sented, giving  a  brief  sketch  of  its  early  history, 
of  the  angel's  visit  to  the  lad,  Joseph  Smith,  the 
organization  of  the  church  and  the  persecution  it 
endured,  and  of  the  murder  of  the  two  Martyrs, 
Joseph  and  Hyrum.  He  told  of  the  subsequent 


A  Severed  Friendship  69 

"dark  and  cloudy  day,"  when  the  flock  was  scat- 
tered and  a  band  of  them  were  led  away  to  a  "salt 
land"  by  Brigham  Young,  where  their  wicked 
practices  and  the  evil  doctrine  of  polygamy  cast 
an  odium  on  the  name  of  Latter  Day  Saint  which 
even  the  pure  living  of  those  left  behind,  and 
who  eventually  formed  the  Reorganized  Church, 
could  not  entirely  overcome.  With  the  difference 
between  the  two  churches  plainly  shown  and  the 
vague  prejudice  she  had  held  removed,  Blythe 
needed  no  second  invitation  to  the  services  the 
following  night. 

This  time  the  speaker  took  for  his  text  the 
words  of  the  Lord  through  Jeremiah,  "Stand 
ye  in  the  ways,  and  see,  and  ask  for  the  old  paths, 
where  is  the  good  way,  and  walk  therein,  and  ye 
shall  find  rest  for  your  souls."  With  convincing 
reasoning  he  showed  that  this  gospel  of  latter 
days  is  the  same  that  was  given  to  Adam  in  the 
beginning,  the  same  taught  by  the  Carpenter  of 
Nazareth  as  he  walked  the  shores  of  Galilee; 
that,  though  lost  in  the  darkness  of  the  ages  past, 
was  restored  to  earth  for  the  last  time  by  an 
angel  from  heaven;  that  again  the  erring  chil- 
dren of  earth  were  given  the  opportunity  to  walk 
in  the  "old  paths"  and  find  rest  to  their  souls. 

She  learned,  during  the  nights  that  followed, 


70  A  Reasonable  Service 

of  a  God,  warm,  living,  personal,  who  spoke  to 
his  people  in  all  ages,  whenever  they  drew  near 
to  him  in  spirit;  who  reveals  his  will  in  latter 
days  as  surely  as  he  spoke  to  Moses  from  the 
burning  bush.  She  felt  her  heart  glow  with  grat- 
itude at  the  all-enveloping  love  that  could  reach 
down  through  the  ages  and  grant  the  same 
blessings  as  those  enjoyed  on  that  Pentecostal 
day  so  long  ago.  And  always  the  feeling  pressed 
upon  her  of  following  again  a  dim  trail  of  child- 
hood that  her  feet  had  stumbled  upon  after  years 
of  wandering. 

As  the  truth  forced  itself  upon  her,  however, 
she  fought  again  that  battle,  old  as  the  world,  of 
right  against  wrong — that  bloodless  struggle 
with  the  human  heart  as  the  battleground. 

As  the  conviction  grew  stronger  that  at  last 
she  had  found  what  her  soul  cried  out  for,  the 
thought  of  home  and  friends  crowded  in  more 
and  more  insistently.  Well  she  knew  that  life- 
long companions  would  turn  away;  that  even 
the  woman  who  had  taken  the  place  of  mother 
would  give  her  only  a  cold  disapproval  if  she 
linked  her  fortunes  with  this  despised  faith.  Of 
her  uncle's  attitude  she  was  not  so  sure,  and  the 
uncertainty  of  it  added  to  the  turmoil  of  soul 


A  Severed  Friendship  71 

she  was  enduring,  hidden  beneath  her  usual  gay, 
careless  manner. 

In  this  state  of  mind  she  answered  the  tele- 
phone one  afternoon  when  Bob,  having  re- 
covered from  his  ill  humor,  called  for  a  dinner 
and  theater  engagement  for  the  evening.  Glad 
of  a  chance  to  get  away  from  the  tumult  of 
thought  which  kept  crowding  through  her  mind, 
she  accepted  and  was  swept  into  an  evening  of 
congenial  company,  of  shaded  lights  on  cut  glass 
and  china,  and  later,  the  soul-stirring  music  of 
a  famous  opera.  Bob  was  quite  his  usual  win- 
ning self,  and  Blythe  could  not  help  but  feel 
that  it  was  good  to  get  back  to  the  old,  luxurious 
life  of  pleasure  after  an  uneventful  summer  on 
the  farm — for  during  college  days  her  uncle's 
generosity  and  her  own  popularity  had  made 
good  times  very  much  the  rule. 

Bob  gave  her  a  quick  glance  of  approval— 
not  the  first  one  that  evening — as  she  sat  leaning 
back  in  the  soft  curve  of  the  richly  cushioned 
seat  when  he  drove  her  home  at  the  close  of  the 
evening's  enjoyment. 

"You  are  in  a  very  becoming  situation,"  he 
remarked.  "You  haven't  decided  to  make  it 
permanent,  have  you?" 

"I  don't  know  just  how  to  do  it,"  she  replied, 


72  A  Reasonable  Service 

rather  flippantly,  "unless  as  a  taxicab  driver.  Do 
you  think  I'd  make  a  good  one?" 

"You  never  do  take  me  seriously,  Blythe,"  he 
said,  somewhat  sulkily.  "You  seem  to  think  I'm 
only  the  high  school  kid  who  told  you  sentimental 
mush  and  got  laughed  at  for  his  pains.  You 
don't  imagine  I  could  possibly  be  in  earnest 
about  anything,  do  you?" 

"I  hope  so.  You  used  to  build  air  castles,  too, 
Bob.  Have  any  of  your  dreams  come  true? 
Then,  seeing  the  expression  on  her  companion's 
face,  she  added,  impulsively,  "Let's  not  spoil  the 
perfectly  lovely  evening  we've  had  together  by 
quarreling.  We  ought  to  be  grown  up  enough 
to  stop  that  by  this  time." 

"You  have  a  lecture  laid  up  for  me,"  he  in- 
sisted. "I  can  see  it  in  your  eye.  Go  ahead  and 
get  it  off  your  mind." 

"I  haven't  lectured  you  for  a  long  while,  have 
I,  Bob?  It  is  ungrateful  to  do  it  now,  but  per- 
haps it  will  be  good  for  your  soul.  What  are 
you  doing  in  the  world,  anyway?  Are  you  in 
the  bank  because  you  are  necessary  to  the  busi- 
ness, or  because  you  are  the  grandson  of  the 
president?  Are  you  making  yourself  a  necessity 
or  learning  new  and  better  ways  of  doing  things 
in  the  business  world?  And  why  did  you  stop 


A  Severed  Friendship  73 

studying  law?  You  were  doing  well,  weren't 
you?" 

"You're  a  merciless  interrogator,  Ely  the,"  he 
answered,  rather  uneasily.  "I  stopped  law  be- 
cause the  future  of  it  was  too  far  ahead.  I 
wanted  more  immediate  results.  I'm  getting 
them  at  the  bank." 

"I'm  not  so  sure.  Do  you  think  you  have 
mastered  the  work  there  well  enough  to  get 
another  position  if  you  were  suddenly  thrown  on 
your  own  resources?" 

"I  shouldn't  starve,  at  least.  Let's  talk  about 
something  pleasant.  What's  on  for  to-morrow?" 

"Going  to  church  morning  and  evening.  I'd 
rather  not  arrange  anything  for  the  afternoon." 

"Where  are  you  going — down  to  hear  the 
Mormons  again?" 

"Yes,  if  you  insist  on  calling  them  that." 

"It  is  my  turn  to  ask  questions  now.  Are 
you  getting  interested  in  what  they  have  to  offer  ? 
Do  you  know  what  your  people  would  think  if 
they  were  to  know  you  are  going  there  ?  Do  you 
want  to  be  the  third  or  fourth  wife  of  some 
Mormon  preacher?" 

"I  am  interested,  Bob.  They  preach  the 
Bible.  And  you  are  mistaken  about  their  be- 
ing polygamists — I  believe  you  know  better.  The 


74  A  Reasonable  Service 

church  in  Utah  has  practiced  it,  but  you  won't 
find  a  people  on  earth  with  any  higher  ideals 
than  the  Reorganized  Church." 

"I  don't  care  to  hear  about  them.  They 
surely  have  a  way  of  getting  people  in.  Helene 
was  greatly  taken  up  with  them  once  when  she 
was  visiting  a  school  friend  who  belonged,  but 
we  soon  got  the  foolish  idea  out  of  her  head 
when  she  came  home — with  Ted  Worthington's 
help." 

"Ted  Worthington  would  soon  get  the  idea 
of  religion  out  of  anyone's  head,"  Blythe  re- 
plied, distastefully.  "Helene's  foolish  if  she 
marries  him!" 

"Why?  He's  well  off  and  a  good  lawyer  with 
a  growing  practice.  He  may  be  a  little  gay  at 
times,  but  he'll  get  over  that.  But,  seriously, 
why  don't  you  let  me  take  you  to  church  to-mor- 
row? Our  pastor  here  is  a  good  one,  and  now 
that  the  old  crowd  knows  you  are  in  town  every- 
body will  expect  you  to  be  there." 

"Tell  them  where  I  am,  if  they  ask.  I  have 
promised  to  sing  in  the  morning." 

"I  suppose  you  are  making  yourself  very  use- 
ful," Bob  said,  bitterly.  "For  heaven's  sake, 
Blythe,  think  what  you  are  doing!" 

"I  am  thinking,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life, 


A  Severed  Friendship  75 

I  believe.  Could  anything  induce  you  to  go  to 
the  tent  some  night?" 

"No!"  he  replied,  shortly.  "I'm  not  very  keen 
about  religion,  anyway.  It  helps  keep  one 
respectable  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  to  go  to 
some  church — that's  all.  The  Mormon  Church 
doesn't  even  do  that!" 

Realizing  the  futility  of  argument,  Blythe 
said  no  more,  but  the  careless  pleasure  of  the 
evening  was  gone,  and  again  her  brain  seethed 
with  a  tumult  of  thought.  The  rest  of  the  ride 
was  finished  almost  in  silence,  and  when  they 
spoke  it  was  of  other  things. 

As  they  turned  down  the  home  street  she 
chanced  to  glance  out  of  the  window  of  the  car 
and  saw  a  small,  dust-covered,  brewster-green 
runabout  just  ahead  of  them,  but  before  she 
could  glimpse  the  driver  it  turned  into  the  yard 
of  a  brown  bungalow  and  lost  itself  in  the 
shadows. 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways 


A  Reasonable  Service  79 

CHAPTER  5 

THE   PARTING  OF  THE   WAYS 

THE  next  morning  Blythe  was  at  the  un- 
pretentious but  well-kept  church  where 
Sunday  morning  services  were  held,  in 
company  with  Jean  and  Ralph,  and  in  time  for 
the  Sunday  school  session.   Only  once  before  she 
had  been  one  of  the  young  people's  class,  but 
she  was  interested  and  ready  to  come  again. 

After  this  was  over  and  the  opening  song  of 
the  church  service  sung,  she  took  her  place  be- 
side the  young  pianist  for  the  solo  she  was  to 
sing.  It  was  one  she  had  often  sung  before  and 
she  could  not  quite  explain  why  she  had  selected 
it,  but  as  the  accompanist  struck  the  opening 
chords  she  felt  a  strange,  sweet  thrill  sweep  over 
her,  and  she  sang  with  such  a  spirit  of  inspiration 
as  she  had  never  felt  before: 

"Last  night  I  lay  a-sleeping 

There  came  a  dream  so  fair, 
I  saw  the  New  Jerusalem 

Beside  the  temple  there. 
I  heard  the  children  singing, 

And  ever  as  they  sang, 
Methought  the  voice  of  angels 
From  heaven  in  answer  rang." 


80  A  Reasonable  Service 

Was  she  sensing  more  fully  the  ministry  of 
music,  or  did  the  sweet  Spirit  of  the  Master 
rest  upon  her  and  thrill  through  the  tones  of 
her  voice?  She  pondered  it  as  she  took  her  seat, 
the  spirit  of  peace  and  exaltation  still  envelop- 
ing her. 

Glancing  over  the  sea  of  faces  before  her,  she 
gave  a  start  of  surprise.  Near  the  back  of  the 
room  sat  the  white-haired  lady  of  the  almshouse, 
with  a  clear-eyed,  dark-haired  young  woman  on 
one  side  and  Neil  Cameron  on  the  other,  adjust- 
ing a  wrap  about  her  shoulders  and  giving  un- 
mistakable evidence  of  having  a  personal  inter- 
est in  her  welfare. 

Blythe  sat  vainly  trying  to  unravel  the  mys- 
tery until  the  opening  words  of  the  speaker 
caught  her  ear:  "I  shall  talk  to  you  a  little  while 
this  morning  on  the  gathering  and  the  building 
up  of  Zion.  You  are  nearly  all  Latter  Day 
Saints  and  therefore  are,  or  should  be,  vitally  in- 
terested in  this  subject." 

He  quoted  from  the  Book  of  Doctrine  and 
Covenants,  showing  that  the  people  of  the  Lord 
were  to  be  "gathered  in  unto  one  place,  upon 
the  face  of  this  land,  to  prepare  their  hearts  and 
be  prepared  in  all  things,  against  the  day  when 
tribulation  and  desolation  are  sent  forth  among 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  81 

the  wicked."  That  here  Zion,  the  New  Jeru- 
salem, should  be  established  with  love  as  her 
corner  stone  and  righteousness  and  equality 
among  the  chief  stones  of  her  foundation.  Here 
should  be  a  busy,  happy  people;  none  idle,  yet 
none  ground  down  by  the  treadmill  of  poverty 
and  unceasing  toil.  Purity  must  reign,  for  not 
until  Zion  becomes  in  reality  the  "pure  in  heart" 
shall  she  "spread  herself  and  become  very  glori- 
ous, very  great,  and  very  terrible:  and  the  na- 
tions of  the  earth  shall  honor  her  and  shall  say, 
Surely  Zion  is  the  city  of  our  God." 

He  was  not  the  speaker  who  had  occupied  at 
the  tent  the  previous  weeks,  but  one  holding  the 
office  of  bishop,  and  by  virtue  of  his  calling  and 
experience  he  was  not  an  impractical  dreamer, 
but  a  man  of  business  ability.  He  emphasized 
the  fact  that  the  law  of  tithing  and  consecration 
must  be  fulfilled;  that  Zion  can  be  redeemed  only 
in  the  appointed  way;  the  observance  of  the  law 
as  laid  down  by  the  great  Master  Builder;  that 
the  idler  shall  have  no  place  there,  and  the  work 
must  be  accomplished  by  the  mutual  labor  and 
sacrifice  of  all. 

Listening  in  wonder,  Blythe  realized  that  there 
were  heights  in  this  strange  work  that  her  mind 

had  not  before  grasped;  that  should  she,  in  all 
RS— 6 


82  A  Reasonable  Service 

sincerity,  cast  her  lot  with  this  people,  it  must 
be  with  an  utter  consecration  of  time,  of  talent, 
of  all  she  possessed.  She  believed  with  all  her 
heart  and  felt  with  a  surge  of  joy  that  here  was 
something  definite  to  work  for — something  real 
and  tangible ;  yet  she  thought  again  of  home  and 
friends  and  sent  up  a  silent  prayer  for  guidance 
and  help  that  she  might  not  be  tried  beyond  what 
she  was  able  to  bear. 

When  she  reached  the  door  after  services,  Neil 
and  his  two  companions  had  left  the  church  and 
she  saw  him  helping  them  into  the  runabout. 
Then  he  turned,  glanced  at  the  outcoming  stream 
of  worshipers  as  if  searching  for  some  one,  and 
seeing  her,  came  quickly  back. 

"I  went  out  to  call  on  you  the  day  after  you 
left  home,"  he  said,  as  he  returned  her  firm  hand- 
clasp. "May  I  see  you  this  afternoon?  There 
is  a  special  reason." 

"I  know  of  no  reason  why  you  cannot,"  she 
returned,  smiling. 

"Thank  you,"  he  replied,  and  was  gone. 

She  was  swaying  lazily  in  the  porch  swing  and 
carrying  on  a  spasmodic  conversation  with  Jean 
and  Ralph  between  pages  of  a  late  magazine 
when  he  drove  up  in  the  runabout.  He  and  the 
Randalls  were  old  friends,  which  fact  Ely  the 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  83 

had  discovered,  and  for  a  time  the  talk  was 
general.  Then  a  party  of  friends  came  by  and 
stopped  to  chat  a  moment,  and  under  cover  of 
the  diversion  Neil  made  quick  use  of  his  oppor- 
tunity. 

"When  we  can  manage  a  polite  get-away,"  he 
said,  impulsively,  "let's  run  away  to  the  country. 
Are  you  above  riding  in  my  little  car?" 

"Not  at  all,"  she  replied,  her  eyes  sparkling 
at  the  thought  of  a  ride  in  the  fresh  September 
air.  "Jean's  class  of  girls  is  coming  to  practice 
something  before  long,  and  Ralph  is  dying  to 
read  this  magazine,  so  we  can  escape  with  great 
ease  and  grace."  This  they  presently  did. 

"Do  you  know,"  she  said  as  the  car  sped  along, 
"this  is  the  first  time  I've  been  out  in  the  coun- 
try since  I  came.  If  it  were  not  that  I  have 
formed  the  habit  of  going  to  church  and  dislike 
to  stop,  I  should  have  gone  home  before  this  to 
get  a  breath  of  fresh  air." 

Neil  gave  her  a  keen  glance,  but  before  there 
was  time  for  a  remark  she  turned  to  him  and 
asked  pointedly,  "Are  you  a  member  of  the  Lat- 
ter Day  Saint  Church?" 

"I  am,"  he  answered. 

"I  have  never  heard  anyone  mention  it,"  she 
said  with  a  smile,  "but  ever  since  you  sent  Mr. 


84  A  Reasonable  Service 

Titus  away  in  such  a  hurry  that  day  I've  half 
suspected  you  of  some  duplicity." 

"And  when  you  saw  me  in  church  this  morn- 
ing your  worst  suspicions  were  confirmed,  I  sup- 
pose," he  returned.  "Did  you  recognize  my 
companions?" 

"One  of  them.  I  was  somewhat  out  of  sorts 
because  you  gave  me  no  chance  to  speak  to  her." 

"I  wanted  to  explain  first — it  would  have  been 
awkward  there.  She  is  my  mother,  and  the  other 
my  sister,  Margaret." 

"But  why—  '  Blythe  began,  then  stopped  ab- 
ruptly. 

"Why  was  she  in  the  poorhouse?  She  told 
you,  herself.  We  searched  everywhere  but 
could  find  no  trace,  and  at  last  decided  she  had 
been  killed  in  the  wreck  and  her  body  one  of 
those  charred  beyond  recognition  in  the  fire  that 
followed.  The  shock  and  worry  hastened  father's 
death,  and  Margaret  and  I  left  the  place  we  were 
living  and  went  away,  I  to  school  and  she  to  her 
hospital  training.  We  had  but  just  moved  there 
when  mother  went  on  that  ill-fated  trip,  and  I 
suppose  that  made  it  more  difficult  for  her  to 
find  us. 

"She  knew  me  that  day  at  the  poorhouse,  but 
she  knew  that  I  was  with  friends  and  so  spared 


The  Parting  of  the   Ways  85 

me  the  possible  humiliation  of  a  public  explana- 
tion. You  can  imagine  some  of  the  strength  of 
character  my  mother  possesses  from  the  self-con- 
trol she  exercised  that  day,"  he  added  with  pride. 

"I  love  your  mother,"  Blythe  said,  briefly.  "Go 
on,  please." 

"When  I  saw  her  last  her  hair  was  red-gold — 
it  is  not  gray  with  age  now — and  she  did  not 
have  that  deforming  scar  across  her  face,  so  I 
did  not  recognize  her;  but  when  she  sang  'Lead, 
kindly  light,'  I  think  I  knew  then.  But  I  wanted 
to  have  time  to  think  and  find  out  whether 
or  not  you  knew  anything  about  her.  I  think 
she  told  you  what  she  did  for  a  purpose — my 
mother  is  very  wise — and  after  you  and  Mr. 
Blake  were  gone  I  went  back.  She  was  waiting 
for  me  down  by  the  gate  alone,  and  when  I  came 
she  put  her  arms  around  me  and  cried  as  if  her 
heart  were  breaking — but  I  knew  she  was  shed- 
ding tears  of  joy!  We  came  here  that  night  to 
Margaret,  and  you  can  imagine  the  reunion  that 
followed." 

There  were  tears  in  Blythe's  eyes  as  he  finished, 
and  she  did  not  speak  at  once;  then  she  said 
simply,  "I  am  very  glad.  I  wonder  if  your 
mother  would  care  to  see  me  again." 


86  A  Reasonable  Service 

"She  wants  me  to  bring  you  as  soon  as  we 
get  back  to  town." 

"I  shall  be  glad  to  go.  I  wonder,"  she  went 
on  after  a  pause,  "why  so  much  of  the  bitter 
comes  to  some  and  seemingly  none  to  others. 
Sometimes  I'm  almost  ashamed  that  my  own  life 
has  been  so  full  of  sunshine — I  have  hardly  had 
an  ungratified  wish!" 

"Your  time  will  come,  no  doubt.  Life  is  sel- 
dom all  smooth  sailing — sooner  or  later  we  strike 
the  breakers." 

"But  I  don't  want  to,"  she  insisted.  "I  am  a 
coward.  I  don't  like  to  think  of  meeting  diffi- 
culties and  trials.  I  want  my  friends  to  be  happy, 
and  most  of  all,  I  want  to  be  happy  myself.  Did 
you  ever  hear  such  a  selfish  and  wholly  irre- 
sponsible statement  before?" 

But  Neil  only  smiled.  "When  they  come  to 
you,"  he  said,  "you  will  meet  them  like  the  good 
soldier  you  are,  and  when  they  are  over  you  will 
be  glad  they  came  to  you  and  wonder  why  you 
never  appreciated  real  happiness  before." 

Then,  because  the  world  was  young  to  them, 
they  forgot  the  serious  things  of  life  and  en- 
joyed the  drive  to  the  full. 

"I  wonder  if  this  is  the  road  Bob  described  to 
me,"  Blythe  remarked,  suddenly.  "It  is  on  top 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  87 

of  the  world,  isn't  it?  And  there  are  little  farms 
and  purple  shadows  on  either  side.  Have  I 
waited  two  whole  weeks  in  vain  for  this!  Never!" 

"I'm  afraid  you  will  have  to  explain,"  Neil 
said,  politely.  "Is  Bob  friend  or  enemy?" 

"He  is  both,"  she  declared  gayly.  "He  in- 
vited me  to  go  for  a  drive  one  night  and  I  refused 
— for  a  very  good  reason.  Then  he  stayed  away 
two  whole  weeks  to  punish  me  and  took  me  to 
the  opera  last  night  as  a  recompense.  Bob's 
punishments  never  did  me  any  good,  anyhow," 
she  finished,  airily. 

"I  am  more  bewildered  than  ever!"  Neil  com- 
plained. "Is  he  a  cousin,  or  a  big  brother,  or  a 
fiance?  He  seems  to  have  some  claim  on  you." 

"He  is  none  of  the  three — just  a  boy  I  grew 
up  with.  We  hunted  eggs  and  went  nutting  and 
snowballed  and  coasted  and  jeopardized  our  lives 
several  times  daily,  usually  in  company  with 
Ralph  and  Jean  and  Roger  and  Marian.  His 
surname  is  Weston,  and  he  works  in  the  city  in 
his  grandfather's  bank.  He  is  the  son  of  the  fore- 
most lawyer  of  Sardis,  whom  you  may  have  met." 

"I  have  met  them  both,  I  believe,  now  that 
you  mention  it,"  he  replied.  It  was  at  the  end 
of  his  tongue  to  inquire  if  she  and  this  Bob  Wes- 
ton intended  to  follow  the  example  set  by  the 


88  A  Reasonable  Service 

other  four,  but  he  reflected  in  time  that  it  was 
none  of  his  business  and  that  Blythe  would  prob- 
ably consider  the  question  somewhat  imperti- 
nent. So,  instead,  'he  offered  to  gather  some  of 
the  purple  asters  and  yellow  goldenrod  that  lined 
the  roadside  and  which  she  was  admiring  audibly 
at  that  moment. 

She  scrutinized  him  rather  closely  from  the 
shelter  of  the  runabout  as  he  came  back  with  his 
arms  full  of  the  golden  and  purple  blossoms.  He 
was  not  so  handsome  as  Bob,  she  decided,  but 
there  was  a  fine  strength  about  his  face  which 
Bob's  had  never  possessed,  as  he  stood  with 
bared  head  in  the  sunshine. 

"Some  of  them  need  their  faces  washed,"  he 
apologized,  as  he  piled  them  into  her  lap.  "This 
roadside  dust  is  very  hard  on  their  complexions." 

Then,  as  the  sun  was  low  in  the  west,  they 
turned  their  faces  towards  the  city  and  drove 
home  in  the  quiet  autumn  dusk.  The  breath  of 
evening  was  still  warm  and  sweet  as  summer  air, 
and  Blythe  breathed  it  gratefully  as  they  slipped 
past  the  brown  fields  and  patches  of  woodland 
where  the  trees  were  already  putting  on  their 
colored  dresses — a  growing  portent  of  coming 
change. 

At   the   brown  bungalow   that   evening   she 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  89 

found  Mrs.  Cameron  awaiting  her  coming  with 
a  heart-warming  welcome.  She  met  Margaret, 
tall  and  well-poised,  with  a  soothing  calm  in  the 
very  touch  of  her  firm  hands.  There  was  another 
inmate  of  the  home,  a  plump,  auburn-haired 
young  woman  whom  Margaret  introduced  as 
Elizabeth  Wilcox,  a  public-school  nurse  of  the 
city. 

"Betty  and  I  were  companions  in  misery  at 
bachelor-girl  housekeeping  until  mother  came." 
she  explained.  "Now  she  keeps  the  home  fires 
burning  while  we  are  away  at  work." 

They  went  to  church  in  the  runabout  that 
evening,  Blythe,  Margaret,  and  Neil,  Mrs. 
Cameron  being  weary  and  Betty  obligingly  of- 
fering to  stay  with  her.  The  sermon  was  not 
destined  to  set  at  rest  the  emotions  that  had  been 
distressing  Blythe  the  past  week,  for  the  speaker 
took  for  his  text  the  first  and  second  verses  of 
the  twelfth  chapter  of  Romans,  "I  beseech  you 
therefore,  brethren,  by  the  mercies  of  God,  that 
ye  present  your  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  holy, 
acceptable  unto  God,  which  is  your  reasonable 
service.  And  be  ye  not  conformed  to  this  world : 
but  be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your 
mind,  that  ye  may  prove  what  is  that  good  and 
acceptable  and  perfect  will  of  God." 


90  A  Reasonable  Service 

Much  of  the  sermon  that  followed  was  lost 
upon  her;  the  words  of  the  text  kept  repeating 
themselves  over  and  over  in  her  mind.  Had 
she  rendered  unto  God  a  reasonable  service? 
She  confessed  to  herself  in  shame  that  her  serv- 
ice had  been  given  to  the  goddess  of  worldly 
pleasure.  And  there  was  solemn  warning  in  the 
words,  "Be  ye  not  conformed  to  this  world:  but 
be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of  your  mind, 
that  ye  may  prove  what  is  that  good  and  ac- 
ceptable and  perfect  will  of  God."  Surely  her 
mind  had  been  renewed  during  these  weeks,  when 
the  light  of  inspiration  had  been  turned  on  the 
Scriptures ;  when  words,  hitherto  not  understood, 
had  burned  with  new  meanings,  and  she  had  been 
able  to  prove  to  her  own  satisfaction  by  these 
same  Scriptures  what  was  "the  good  and  accept- 
able and  perfect  will  of  God."  Yet  some  power 
held  her  back,  until  she  was  ready  to  cry  out  at 
the  pain  of  the  conflict  within  her. 

When  Neil  left  her  at  her  door  after  services 
she  went  directly  to  her  room,  calling  a  brief 
good-night  to  Jean  and  Ralph  as  they  came  up 
the  walk  from  the  street.  Long  after  the  house 
was  quiet  she  sat  on  the  broad  window  seat  look- 
ing out  into  the  moonlit  night.  Careless  and 
happy  though  her  life  had  been,  she  realized  to- 


The  Parting  of  the  Ways  91 

night  that  under  the  surface  a  current  of  vague 
unrest  and  longing  was  moving  that  must  some- 
time burst  through  and  carry  her  into  new  and 
untried  waters. 

"Why  did  I  go  that  first  night?"  she  said  to 
herself  with  a  rush  of  bitterness.  "Why  should 
I  leave  my  church  and  my  associates?  Yet,  deep 
in  my  heart  I  know  this  is  the  true  church, 
in  full  harmony  with  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
But  am  I  strong  enough  to  face  the  world  and  be 
called  a  Mormon!  And  my  home — would  it  be 
my  home  any  longer?  I  know  it  would  not. 
Would  it  be  ingratitude  to  those  who  have  given 
it  to  me?  And  yet,  to  my  Maker  I  owe  all — my 
reasonable  service!" 

So  the  struggle  went  on  far  into  the  night. 
The  peace  of  the  outer  world  seemed  to  mock 
the  wild  tumult  in  her  soul  as  she  fought  her 
battle  there  alone;  but  at  last  she  flung  herself 
to  her  knees  in  a  passion  of  tears  and  prayed 
brokenly  for  help,  and  when  she  arose  the  victory 
was  won,  and  a  cool  breeze — or  was  it  the  touch 
of  a  watching  angel's  hand — came  in  through 
the  window  and  soothed  her  to  slumber. 

And  as  she  slept  she  dreamed.  She  stood  at 
the  parting  of  the  ways,  and  before  her  stretched 
two  paths.  One,  broad,  carpeted  with  roses,  and 


92  A  Reasonable  Service 

cool  with  tempting  shadows,  turned  towards  the 
left,  and  in  the  distance  she  could  see  a  mansion 
lifting  its  proud  head  to  the  sky ;  but  as  she  looked 
more  closely  she  beheld  sinister  shapes  lurking 
among  the  cooling  shadows,  and  sharp  thorns 
and  treacherous  pitfalls  beneath  the  roses.  Then 
she  turned  towards  the  other,  straight  and  nar- 
row and  paved  with  pearl,  whereon  was  carved 
the  same  name  as  that  above  the  door  of  the  little 
white  chapel  she  had  attended  that  morning.  It 
was  flooded  with  golden  light,  and  above  it 
glowed  the  words,  "Strait  is  the  gate  and  narrow 
is  the  way  which  leadeth  unto  life,  and  few  there 
be  that  find  it."  Far  away,  at  the  end  of  the 
road,  she  caught  the  gleam  of  a  city  of  gold,  and 
with  a  song  of  joy  on  her  lips  she  set  her  feet 
in  the  narrow  way. 


An  Unchanged  Decision 


A  Reasonable  Service  95 


CHAPTER  6 

AN  UNCHANGED  DECISION 

JOHN  BLAKE  sat  on  the  sunny  porch  tak- 
ing an  after-dinner  rest  and  waiting  for  the 
first  splutter  of  the  noisy  little  Ford  that 
brought  the  daily  mail.  When  it  came  he  put 
his  glasses  on  that  he  might  be  able  to  look  it 
over  on  the  way  back,  and  sauntered  leisurely 
down  to  the  mail  box.  There  were  several  let- 
ters; but  one  square,  cream-tinted  envelope  ad- 
dressed to  him  in  Blythe's  round,  girlish  hand  re- 
ceived his  first  attention.  He  tore  it  open  and 
read. 

"Dear  Uncle  and  Aunt: 

"I  arrived  at  a  momentous  conclusion  last  night 
and  I  am  writing  to-day  to  tell  you  about  it.  I 
received  your  letter,  Aunt  Lillian,  reproaching 
me  because  I  was  not  at  church  the  day  Mr.  Titus 
was  in  the  city,  but  the  fact  is,  I  have  been  at- 
tending the  services  of  the  Latter  Day  Saints 
and  have  decided  to  join  that  church.  I  know 
this  will  have  much  the  same  effect  as  a  bomb 
bursting  at  your  feet,  but  I  have  thought  about 


96  A  Reasonable  Service 

it — yes,  and  prayed  over  it — and  my  way  is  clear 
at  last.  Forgive  me  if  this  seems  ungrateful 
to  you — believe  me,  I  have  no  ingratitude  in  my 
heart,  and  I  am,  as  always, 

"Your  affectionate 

"BLYTHE. 

"P.  S.  Please  do  not  blame  Ralph  and  Jean 
for  this.  I  have  been  going  because  I  wished  to 
go,  and  made  up  my  mind  to  take  this  step  with- 
out any  outside  interference." 

There  was  another  note  which  Mr.  Blake 
found  folded  into  one  of  the  tiny  canoes  he  had 
taught  her  to  make  years  ago.  This  was  evi- 
dently intended  for  him  alone,  for  it  began: 

"Dear  Uncle  John : 

"This  is  private  if  you  wish  to  keep  it  so.  I 
know  how  Aunt  Lillian  will  feel  about  this — I 
wish  I  knew  you  wouldn't  care  too  much.  It 
would  be  too  much  to  ask  for  your  consent,  per- 
haps, but  if  you  still  love  me  a  little  and  don't 
think  me  utterly  crazy,  I  should  appreciate 
knowing  it.  "Your  own 

"BLYTHE." 

When  John  Blake  finished  reading  the  letters 
he  did  a  strange  thing;  he  climbed  two  flights  of 


An  Unchanged  Decision  97 

stairs  to  the  big  attic  and  poked  into  dark  cor- 
ners and  turned  over  the  miscellaneous  articles 
that  such  places  usually  contain  until  his  nose 
was  tipped  with  dust  and  his  iron-gray  hair  cov- 
ered with  cobwebs.  Finally  he  found  a  small 
walnut  trunk,  black  with  age,  carried  it  down, 
and  deposited  it  between  the  seats  of  the  "chum- 
my" roadster,  covering  it  carefully  with  a  robe. 

When  his  wife  drove  up  in  the  gray  coupe 
which  was  her  especial  property,  he  was  potter- 
ing about  the  yard,  but  he  left  his  work  at  once 
and  gave  her  Blythe's  letter.  Then  he  stood 
watching  the  conflicting  emotions  of  amazement, 
despair,  and  anger  on  her  handsome  face  as  she 
read  it  through. 

"John  Blake,  you  must  not  allow  her  to  do 
this  thing!"  she  cried.  "She  is  insane;  hypno- 
tized by  those  people!  You  must  go  down  at 
once  and  bring  her  home !  It  must  be  prevented, 
some  way!" 

"I  shall  do  nothing  to  prevent  it,"  her  hus- 
band answered,  quietly.  "She  is  of  age  and  a 
free-born  citizen  with  as  good  a  set  of  brains  as 
anyone  I  know.  She  has  only  come  into  her  own, 
Lillian,  and  you  know  it." 

"I  believe  you've  been  an  accomplice  to  this." 
Mrs.  Blake  was  almost  in  tears.  "You've  prob- 
RS— 7 


98  A  Reasonable  Service 

ably  known  it  all  along.  If  you  won't  go,  I  will 
—or  better  yet,  I'll  have  Mr.  Titus  see  her.  He 
is  going  to  the  city  this  afternoon." 

"Titus  is  apt  to  come  home  with  his  wings 
singed,"  returned  Mr.  Blake,  dryly.  "She 
doesn't  take  much  stock  in  his  opinions." 

"Surely  she  will  have  some  respect  for  the 
cloth,  at  least.  John,  I'm  simply  wild  about 
this,"  and  she  retired  hastily  to  the  house  and  the 
telephone.  Then  her  husband  got  out  the  big 
roadster  and  drove  calmly  into  Sardis. 

Meanwhile  Blythe  was  having  her  own  per- 
plexities. She  realized  that  she  had  made  a  fatal 
step  so  far  as  her  home  life  was  concerned,  al- 
though her  mind  was  calm  and  untroubled  after 
the  assurance  that  had  come  to  her  the  night  be- 
fore. She  posted  the  letter  to  her  uncle  early 
in  the  morning  and  came  back  just  as  the  rest  of 
the  family  were  sitting  down  at  the  breakfast 
table. 

"Do  you  know  of  any  position  open  to  a  book- 
keeper or  stenographer,  Ralph?"  she  asked  as  she 
unfolded  her  napkin. 

Ralph  looked  somewhat  surprised.  "Are  you 
thinking  of  launching  yourself  upon  a  business 
career,  fair  cousin?"  he  inquired  with  a  smile. 

"It  is  likely  to  be  necessary,"  she  replied.    "I 


An  Unchanged  Decision  99 

expect  to  be  baptized  very  shortly  and  I  don't 
intend  to  afflict  you  and  Jean  as  a  guest  the  rest 
of  my  life." 

"Forgive  me  for  teasing,  Blythe."  Ralph  had 
grown  suddenly  grave.  "I  am  very  glad  to  hear 
what  you  have  told  us,  but  I  know,  too,  what  it 
will  mean  to  you.  I  suppose  this  will  be  laid  to 
our  charge,  Jean,"  he  added,  looking  across  the 
table  at  his  wife. 

But  her  brown  eyes  were  quite  untroubled. 
"We  have  had  enough  laid  to  our  charge  that  a 
little  more  doesn't  matter,"  she  said,  "and  our 
home  is  yours,  Blythe,  as  long  as  you  wish  to 
stay." 

"I  wish  to  work,"  replied  Blythe  with  decision. 
"I  thank  you,  Jean — you  know  I'd  rather  stay 
here  than  anywhere  else,  but  I'm  going  to  pay 
my  way  if  I  do.  I  am  glad  Uncle  John  insisted 
on  giving  me  an  education  to  work  with,"  she 
added.  "If  you  don't  know  of  any  vacancy, 
Ralph,  I  shall  start  out  to-day  to  find  a  place." 

"My  assistant  bookkeeper  expects  to  leave  for 
California  before  cold  weather,"  he  answered; 
"perhaps  in  a  week  or  two.  I  wonder  if  you 
would  care  to  work  at  the  factory." 

"To  be  sure,"  she  said.     "It  would  be  much 


100  A  Reasonable  Service 

pleasanter  working  with  you  than  a  stranger.   It 
seems  almost  too  good  to  be  true!" 

"Of  course  Mr.  Aldrich  does  the  hiring,"  he 
interposed,  "though  my  opinion  goes  a  long  way 
with  him.  But  there  has  been  some  trouble  with 
the  employees  there  and — sometimes  a  strike  is 
serious.  I  shouldn't  like  you  to  run  into  danger, 
Blythe."  He  hesitated  a  moment,  then  as  she 
seemed  about  to  speak,  continued,  "Come  out  to 
the  factory  with  me  this  morning  and  get  your 
application  in  if  you  feel  that  you  want  the  place. 
Perhaps  you  can  tell  more  about  it  when  you  see 
Mr.  Aldrich  and  look  things  over." 

So  she  finished  her  breakfast  hastily  and  they 
set  out  together.  The  large  implement  factory 
where  Ralph  was  bookkeeper  stood  far  out,  near 
the  edge  of  the  city.  It  did  not  look  particularly 
prepossessing  that  first  morning  as  they  stepped 
from  the  street  car — a  miscellaneous  collection  of 
structures,  belching  out  clouds  of  smoke,  while 
the  shriek  and  roar  of  a  switching  freight  train 
on  the  track  near  by  added  to  the  confusion. 

"I  feel  a  little  nervous,"  Blythe  confessed,  as 
they  walked  the  short  distance  from  the  car  line 
to  the  main  building.  "If  this  sort  of  an  inter- 
view affects  me,  what  must  it  be  to  a  girl  who 


An  Unchanged  Decision  101 

is  back  a  week  on  her  rent  and  has  the  soles  worn 
off  her  shoes!" 

Ralph  glanced  at  her  quickly,  but  she  was  not 
jesting.  She  was  looking  instead  at  an  over- 
dressed slip  of  a  girl  across  the  street,  whose 
complexion  was  unnaturally  pale,  whose  cheeks 
were  brilliantly  rouged,  whose  dark  eyes  were 
darker  still  under  their  blackened  lashes. 

"That  is  Fannie  Evans,  a  local  character,"  he 
explained,  following  her  glance.  "She  isn't  the 
kind  you  would  care  to  know,  Blythe." 

Blythe's  face  was  troubled.  She  had  seen  too 
little  of  the  seamy  side  of  life  to  be  untouched 
by  sin  and  poverty.  On  the  corner  a  blind  man 
stood  begging,  and  she  dropped  a  coin  into  the 
tin  cup  he  held  and  met  Ralph's  smile  with  a  half 
defiant  look. 

"How  do  you  know  he  isn't  poor,  with  a  wife 
and  family  dependent?"  she  demanded.  "His 
card  says  so." 

"He  lives  down  the  street  a  little  way,"  was 
the  reply,  "in  a  house  quite  as  comfortable  as 
ours,  and  his  wife  wears  twenty-dollar  georgette 
waists.  I  saw  her  buy  one." 

"How  can  you  tell  how  to  give?"  asked  the 
girl,  somewhat  despairingly.  "Surely  all  beg- 


102  A  Reasonable  Service 

gars  don't  live  in  modern  houses  and  buy  twenty- 
dollar  waists  for  their  wives!" 

"They  do  not."  Ralph's  face  was  grave  now. 
"You  must  either  give  indiscriminately  or  not 
give  at  all.  The  first  is  hard  on  your  pocketbook ; 
the  second  is  hard  on  your  heart." 

There  was  no  more  time  for  moralizing,  how- 
ever, for  the  factory  door  was  before  them  and 
Ralph  led  the  way  up  the  stairs  to  his  own  special 
sanctum.  It  was  above  some  of  the  noise  and 
there  was  a  glimpse  of  the  river  and  green  trees 
far  away,  as  Blythe  noted  through  the  window; 
but  most  of  the  view  was  shut  out  by  a  tall  ware- 
house just  across  the  street,  beyond  which  was  a 
huddled  group  of  dilapidated  houses,  the  homes 
of  the  less  prosperous  of  the  factory  workers. 

"Well,  how  do  you  like  the  prospect?"  Ralph, 
who  had  been  furtively  watching  her  as  he  ar- 
ranged his  work  for  the  day,  broke  the  silence. 

"It  might  be  more  pleasing,"  she  admitted, 
"but  I  won't  beat  a  retreat  now." 

When  Mr.  Aldrich,  a  brisk,  middle-aged  man 
appeared,  she  stated  her  errand  as  soon  as  they 
were  introduced. 

"Have  you  had  any  experience?"  he  asked, 
looking  at  her  sharply  from  behind  his  horn- 
rimmed spectacles. 


An  Unchanged  Decision  103 

"No  office  experience."  She  felt  rather  small 
and  inadequate  as  she  answered.  "I  understand 
bookkeeping  though  and  am  fairly  -rapid  at  ste- 
nography and  typewriting.  I  can  also  spell  most 
of  the  everyday  words  of  the  English  language 
and  punctuate  my  sentences,"  she  added  with  a 
smile. 

Mr.  Aldrich  returned  her  smile,  and  she  dis- 
covered that  his  keen  eyes  could  twinkle  kindly 
behind  his  spectacles,  but  he  only  said  as  he  hur- 
ried away,  "Mr.  Randall  will  file  your  applica- 
tion and  it  will  be  considered  along  with  the 
others." 

She  was  a  victim  of  mixed  feelings  as  she  left 
the  factory  and  boarded  a  home-bound  car.  She 
abhorred  street  cars,  and  the  thought  of  riding 
to  and  from  her  work  day  after  day  gave  her  a 
sense  of  aversion.  But  the  morning  was  freshly 
beautiful  and  her  spirits  rose  again  during  the 
walk  home  from  the  car  line.  She  stopped  to 
watch  two  or  three  squirrels  frisking  among  the 
fallen  leaves  and  smile  at  several  happy  babies 
in  neighboring  dooryards.  Then  a  familiar  voice 
hailed  her,  and  turning,  she  saw  her  old  pastor 
hurrying  to  overtake  her. 

"Why,  Mr.  Reid,"  she  said,  delightedly,  "I 
didn't  know  you  were  in  the  city." 


104  A  Reasonable  Service 

"I  exchanged  pulpits  with  the  pastor  here 
yesterday,"  he  explained.  "I  did  not  see  you  at 
church." 

"I  wasn't  there,"  was  the  reply.  Then  she 
added,  a  little  uncomfortably,  "I  suppose  you 
have  been  hearing  all  about  my  apostasy." 

"Yes,  from  Bob  Weston.  He  seemed  honestly 
troubled  over  it  and  wished  me  to  see  you." 

"That  was  very  kind  of  Bob,"  she  said,  ironi- 
cally. Somehow  she  felt  rather  nettled  that  Bob 
should  have  had  a  hand  in  this. 

"Mr.  Reid,"  she  continued,  "do  you  know 
anything  against  the  Latter  Day  Saint  Church? 
Honestly,  now?  If  you  do,  I  wish  to  know  it." 

"I  do  not,"  he  answered,  frankly.  "I  have 
known  many  of  the  members  of  the  church  and 
have  a  high  opinion  of  them.  They  are  honest, 
clean,  and  law-abiding,  of  course  with  some  ex- 
ceptions. Their  doctrine  seems  strange  in  many 
ways,  but  they  have  more  of  the  actual  Scriptures 
in  their  belief  than  any  other  church  I  know  of." 

"It  seems  to  me,"  she  said  with  a  smile,  "that 
Bob  has  sent  rather  a  poor  missionary  to  reclaim 
the  lost  sinner.  If  you  think  they  have  more  of 
the  Scriptures  than  other  churches,  why  aren't 
you  one  of  them?" 

"You  were  always  hard  to  manage,  Blythe," 


An  Unchanged  Decision  105 

he  replied,  returning  her  smile.  "It  may  seem 
rather  a  strange  thing  for  a  clergyman  to  say, 
but  religion  is  something  like  patent  medicine. 
You  have  to  change  the  formula  as  often  as  you 
find  you  need  some  other  ingredient  to  make  it 
more  effective." 

"I  see  your  meaning,"  she  answered.  "You 
think  these  people  have  merely  adapted  more  of 
the  Scriptures  than  other  churches;  that  it  will 
be  only  a  question  of  time  until  the  rest  of  the 
churches  catch  up,  so  to  speak." 

"You  are  putting  it  very  plainly,  Blythe,  but 
that  is  really  what  I  mean.  What  difference  does 
the  mode  of  baptism  make,  for  instance,  or  some 
of  the  other  principles  they  insist  on?  Why  run 
the  risk  of  severing  your  friendships  and  your 
family  relations  by  uniting  with  this  church  when 
you  can  believe  all  the  Bible  you  wish  and  still 
retain  your  old  membership?" 

"Because  I  refuse  to  belong  to  a  church  that 
either  teaches  in  opposition  to  the  Bible  or  ig- 
nores some  parts  of  it  completely,"  she  said, 
warmly.  "Because  I  believe  that  this  church  is 
the  only  true  one.  Its  very  existence  depends  on 
the  principles  written  down  in  the  Scriptures. 
It  is  patterned  after  the  church  in  Christ's  time. 
Therefore,  if  the  mode  of  baptism  was  by  immer- 


106  A  Reasonable  Service 

sion  in  Christ's  time,  as  the  Bible  so  plainly 
shows,  why  do  it  some  other  way  now?" 

"You  are  too  far  gone  to  reclaim,  I'm  afraid," 
he  told  her  in  mock  despair.  But  he  listened  as 
they  walked  down  the  street  together  while  she 
told  him  something  of  her  new  belief,  of  her 
doubt  and  indecision  of  the  night  before,  and  the 
dream  that  followed  it. 

"I  see  your  mind  is  made  up,  Blythe,"  he  said 
as  they  parted,  for  the  train  on  which  he  was  to 
leave  the  city  was  almost  due.  "I  am  not  one  to 
tell  you  that  you  are  absolutely  wrong.  That  is 
a  matter  which  must  be  between  you  and  your 
God.  If  you  are  sure  you  are  right,  go  ahead. 
My  blessing  goes  with  you,  my  dear  child." 

She  saw  that  her  defense  had  moved  him,  and 
with  sudden  convicton  she  turned  to  him  and 
said,  "The  time  is  coming,  Mr.  Reid,  when  your 
church  will  fail  to  satisfy  you,  also." 

She  was  alone  in  the  house  that  afternoon, 
Jean  being  away  on  an  errand,  when  the  tele- 
phone rang  and  she  found  herself  coupled  with 
Sardis.  She  waited  in  some  trepidation  until  she 
heard  Mr.  Blake's  voice  on  the  wire. 

"Hello,"  he  said.  "Am  I  talking  to  Blythe?" 

"Yes,  Uncle  John." 


An  Unchanged  Decision  107 

"All  right.  When  are  you  going  to  be  bap- 
tized?" 

"Why — the  arrangements  are  made  for  to- 
night," she  replied,  somewhat  disconcerted  at  the 
unexpected  inquiry. 

"If  you  care  to  wait  until  to-morrow  night  per- 
haps I  can  be  there,"  he  said,  and  Blythe  gasped. 

"Uncle  John,"  she  demanded,  "how  do  you 
feel  about  it,  anyway?" 

She  heard  him  chuckle  softly.  "I'm  talking 
from  the  central  office  in  town,"  he  said,  "so  I 
can  be  quite  honest  about  telling  you.  I  have 
been  expecting  it  for  a  matter  of  fifteen  years,  so 
I'm  not  greatly  surprised.  I'll  be  down  to-mor- 
row afternoon,"  he  went  on.  "If  you  care  to 
wait,  all  right.  But  be  prepared  for  an  advance 
from  the  enemy's  quarter  in  an  hour  or  two. 
Good-by." 

She  was  still  seeking  an  explanation  of  this 
amazing  conversation  when  the  doorbell  rang 
and  she  answered  it  to  find  herself  face  to  face 
with  the  Reverend  Claude  Titus. 

"Good  afternoon,  Miss  Halliday,"  he  said.  "If 
you  have  a  few  moments'  leisure  I  should  like 
to  talk  to  you." 

"Certainly."  Blythe  knew  at  once  why  he  had 
come,  as  she  led  the  way  into  the  living  room. 


108  A  Reasonable  Service 

SI*lfP 

"I  just  arrived  in  town  and  came  here  at  once," 

he  continued.  "Your  aunt  called  me  up  just  be- 
fore I  left  and  told  me  you  were  thinking  of  join- 
ing— the  Mormons!"  The  gesture  with  which 
Mr.  Titus  delivered  the  words  expressed  un- 
speakable things.  "Knowing,  of  course,  that  you 
do  not  know  the  depth  of  their  iniquity,  I  came 
to  warn  you  before  it  is  too  late — before  you  are 
drawn  in  and  down  beyond  all  reclamation!" 

"Mr.  Titus,"  Blythe  said,  quietly,  looking  him 
squarely  in  the  eye,  "if  you  do  not  know  that 
there  is  a  decided  difference  between  the  Reor- 
ganized Church,  the  one  I  contemplate  uniting 
with,  and  the  people  of  Utah,  you  are  an  ex- 
tremely ignorant  minister!" 

Mr.  Titus's  appearance  expressed  mingled 
surprise  and  horror.  "Have  you  become  so  en- 
meshed in  their  toils,"  he  exclaimed,  "that  you 
no  longer  give  any  credence  to  the  opinion  of  a 
minister  of  the  gospel?  Your  aunt  is  ready  and 
willing  to  forgive  all  if  you  will  come  home  at 
once  and  forget  these  things;  but  if  you  should 
ally  yourself  with  these  people  she  intimated 
that  her  doors  would  be  forever  closed  against 
you!" 

"I  have  expected  as  much,"  was  the  calm  reply, 
"and  my  decision  is  unchanged." 


An  Unchanged  Decision  109 

Seeing  no  signs  of  repentance,  the  minister 
rose  with  dignity.  "I  am  very  sorry  to  have  such 
disheartening  word  to  take  to  your  aunt  and  all 
your  anxious  friends  in  Sardis,"  he  said.  "You 
will  find  doors  closed  against  you  that  have  al- 
ways opened  wide.  You  will  meet  people  on  the 
street  who  will  turn  away  lest  they  be  seen  speak- 
ing to  you.  You  will " 

"Stop!"  Blythe  was  speaking  now,  and  sternly, 
too.  "Since  I  have  been  in  the  city,  Mr.  Titus, 
I  have  been  hearing,  quite  accidentally,  a  little 
of  your  history.  A  friend  of  Mrs.  Randall  lived 
in  the  city  called  Macedonia,  where  you  posed  as 
a  minister  of  the  gospel  and  where  you  did  things 
so  unbecoming  to  a  minister  that  you  were  forced 
to  leave.  If  I  cared  to  start  an  inquisition,  de- 
cent people  would  refuse  to  speak  to  you  on  the 
streets  of  Sardis,  and  the  town  would  soon  be 
made  too  hot  a  place  for  your  continued  resi- 
dence!' 

The  face  of  Mr.  Titus  turned  somewhat  gray. 
"You  cannot  prove  it!"  he  cried,  but  there  was  a 
hint  of  fear  in  his  voice.  "When  you  have  noth- 
ing more  to  say  in  defense  you  start  in  bemean- 
ing  your  would-be  friends  and  rescuers.  I  shall 
leave  you  to  your  fate — you  are  past  all  redemp- 
tion!" 


110  A  Reasonable  Service 

The  stern  lines  of  Blythe's  face  were  relaxed 
into  a  half  smile  as  she  closed  the  door  behind 
him.  "Why  have  I  so  suddenly  become  the  ob- 
ject of  such  tender  care?"  she  mused.  "If  friends 
and  emissaries  can  accomplish  it  I  shall  surely 
be  turned  from  my  purpose!  But  how  thankful 
I  am  that  Uncle  John  is  left  to  me.  I  can't  un- 
derstand him,  at  all!" 

The  next  afternoon,  true  to  his  word,  he  ap- 
peared in  the  "chummy"  roadster  with  the  small 
black  trunk  still  tucked  in  between  the  seats. 

"Open  it,  Blythe,"  he  said,  as  he  set  it  on  the 
floor  of  the  hall  and  handed  her  a  small  brass 
key.  With  a  strange  sensation  she  turned  the 
key  and  lifted  the  lid.  There  seemed  to  be  only 
papers,  old  church  magazines,  most  of  them,  but 
as  she  lifted  them  out  she  found  many  books 
underneath,  with  either  her  father's  name  or  her 
mother's  written  on  the  flyleaves. 

"All  the  books  of  the  church,"  she  said,  turn- 
ing over  the  leaves  of  an  old  Book  of  Mormon. 
"Please  explain,  uncle.  Where  did  you  get  this? 
Do  you  mean  to  tell  me  that  my  parents  were 
Latter  Day  Saints?" 

"Your  father  was  a  minister  of  the  gospel," 
Mr.  Blake  replied,  "and  your  mother  the  best 
Latter  Day  Saint  I  ever  knew.  When  they  died 


An  Unchanged  Decision  111 

your  aunt  took  you  into  our  home  only  on  condi- 
tion that  you  should  know  nothing  of  their  belief. 
I  was  almost  converted  to  it  myself,  so  I  did  not 
agree  willingly;  but  I  wanted  you  with  all  my 
soul,  and  there  was  no  other  place  for  you  to  go, 
so  what  could  I  do?  When  your  letter  came  I 
knew  the  prayers  of  your  mother  were  being  an- 
swered— and  I  was  glad.  Then  I  hunted  this 
up — I  thought  perhaps  it  had  been  destroyed, 
but  I  found  it  in  a  dark  corner  of  the  attic — and 
brought  it  down,  for  I  knew  you  would  be  glad 
to  get  it.  There  are  other  things  in  it  you  will 
treasure,  old  letters  written  by  your  father  and 
mother,  and  photographs  of  them,  and  things 
they  loved.  You  will  want  to  leave  it  here  with 
Jean,  perhaps,  for  safe-keeping." 

"Mr.  Titus  was  here  yesterday,"  Blythe  said 
rather  irrelevantly,  and  told  her  uncle  of  his 
visit. 

"Your  aunt  was  quite  beside  herself  when  he 
came  back  with  his  report — which  did  not  include 
quite  all  you  have  told  me.  I  happened  to  be  in 
the  next  room  when  he  called  to  tell  her  about 
it.  She  told  me  after  he  left  that  you  could  never 
set  foot  inside  the  door  again;  and  I  promised  to 
break  up  the  next  missionary  meeting  and  throw 


112  A  Reasonable  Service 

Titus  bodily  out  of  doors  at  the  first  opportunity 
if  she  persisted  in  her  determination." 

"Uncle  John;  you  didn't!"  she  cried,  between 
laughter  and  tears. 

"Yes,  I  did,"  he  said,  with  rather  a  shame- 
faced smile.  "I  got  rather  vehement,  I'm  afraid. 
But  as  Lillian  dreads  a  scene  above  all  things,  she 
gave  up,  and  I  came  down  to  take  you  home." 

"But  don't  you  see  I  can't  go,  Uncle  John? 
Knowing  she  feels  as  she  does  I  would  never  go 
and  run  the  risk  of  making  the  whole  household 
miserable.  Jean  and  Ralph  want  me  to  stay  here 
and  I  mean  to  work — I  have  my  application  in 
now  as  Ralph's  assistant." 

So,  although  he  was  disappointed,  Mr.  Blake 
agreed  with  Blythe  that  perhaps  it  was  best  for 
her  to  remain  where  she  was. 

"Did  you  wait  for  me  to  come,  honey?"  he 
asked,  looking  down  at  her  where  she  still  sat  on 
the  floor  before  the  little  trunk. 

"Yes,"  she  replied,  "and  I  am  so  glad  I  did! 
It  will  seem  like  a  joyful  home-coming,  now  that 
you  have  told  me  what  you  have.  I  know  now 
why  it  has  all  seemed  so  strangely  familiar  to 
me — I  had  not  entirely  forgotten  the  things  I 
learned  as  a  little  child." 

So  she  entered  the  water  with  a  firm  step  at 


An  Unchanged  Decision  113 

the  font  of  the  little  chapel  that  night,  and  John 
Blake  stood  watching  with  a  dimness  before  his 
eyes  and  an  old  urge  in  his  heart  which  grew 
stronger  as  he  listened  to  the  closing  words  of 
her  confirmation  at  the  service  a  little  later, 
"Thou  art  indeed  recognized  as  a  child  of  God, 
and  with  Israel  thou  shalt  find  thine  inheritance. 
And  thou  shalt  be  a  chosen  vessel  in  the  work  of 
the  redemption  of  Zion  and  the  building  up  of 
the  New  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  our  God." 


RS— 8 


A  View  of  Commercial  Life 


A  Reasonable  Service  117 

CHAPTER  7 

A  VIEW  OF  COMMERCIAL  LIFE 

BLYTHE  awoke  next  morning  at  the  first 
glimmer  of  dawn  and  lay  in  the  delicious 
peace  of  awaking  day,  thinking  over  the 
events  of  the  past  weeks.  She  was  still  possessed 
with  a  feeling  of  exaltation,  the  afterglow  of  the 
good  Spirit  which  had  bathed  her  soul  at  her  con- 
firmation the  evening  before,  a  feeling  that  pos- 
sessed her  for  many  days.  It  was  well,  perhaps, 
for  the  sun  had  not  set  upon  her  first  day  of  the 
new  life  until  she  needed  all  the  strength  that 
was  in  her. 

"I  am  going  home  with  you  after  all,  Uncle 
John,"  she  announced  at  the  breakfast  table. 
"There  are  a  number  of  things  at  home  that  I 
shall  need,  so  I'll  go  with  you  and  come  back  on 
the  evening  train." 

Before  they  left,  however,  she  was  called  to  the 
telephone,  and  Bob  Weston's  voice  spoke. 
"Where  in  the  world  have  you  been,  Blythe?"  he 
demanded.  "I  called  for  you  all  Sunday  after- 
noon and  evening  at  Jean's  and  at  all  your  old 
haunts,  and  nobody  knew  where  you  were !" 


118  A  Reasonable  Service 

"I  was  visiting  friends,"  she  replied  rather 
coldly.  She  resented  Bob's  possessive  tone  some- 
what. "I  have  been  here  most  of  the  time  since." 

"Well,  I  called  to  see  if  you  would  go  to  the 
Worthingtons  to-night.  Daisy  saw  me  to-day 
and  told  me  to  be  sure  to  bring  you.  Swell  hop, 
you  know.  Did  you  get  the  invitation  she  sent 
you?" 

"Not  yet,"  she  replied;  "perhaps  it  will  come 
to-day.  But  I'm  going  home  with  Uncle  John 
this  morning." 

"Oh,  put  it  off  a  day.  Helene  is  down  and 
intends  to  visit  you  and  Jean.  You  can  go  home 
together  then  in  a  day  or  two." 

"But  I'm  coming  back  to-night,"  she  was 
forced  to  acjmit.  "I'm  going  home  to  pack  up." 

"To  pack  up!  What  in  thunder  is  the  rum- 
pus? Blythe,  you  haven't  joined  that  church 
and  broken  with  your  family,  have  you?" 

"I  have  joined  the  church,  yes." 

"And  now  you  have  to  leave  home!"  Bob 
seemed  to  be  trying  to  swallow  his  wrath.  "What 
are  you  going  to  do  now — work  in  a  ten-cent 
store?" 

But  the  receiver  had  clicked,  and  it  took  long 
and  persistent  ringing  to  bring  Blythe  back 
again. 


Commercial  Lafe  119 

"I  say,  Blythe,"  he  pleaded,  "come  anyway, 
to-night.  No  one  needs  to  know  you've  turned 
Mormon  for  a  while,  at  least.  We'll  have  one 
more  good  time  together,  anyway." 

"No;  I've  reformed." 

"You  don't  mean  to  say  you've  quit  dancing!" 

"Yes.  I've  decided  it  isn't  worth  while." 

"Well,  I'll  be  hanged!  You  always  have.  Is 
your  new  church  any  better  than  the  old  one?" 

"If  I  didn't  think  so,  I  should  never  have 
changed." 

Bob  was  silent  a  moment,  and  when  he  spoke 
again  his  voice  was  like  ice.  "Then  I  shall  be 
compelled  to  tell  them  all  why  you  aren't  there 
to-night.  I  warn  you,  you  won't  be  the  popular 
Miss  Halliday  you  have  always  been  very  long, 
at  this  rate."  Then  he  changed  his  tactics  again. 
"I  shall  meet  you  at  the  train  to-night.  No,  you 
needn't  expostulate.  I'll  be  there,  and  you  had 
better  be  prepared  to  go,  for  I'll  take  you  any- 
way." 

Blythe  turned  away,  weary  and  heartsick  for 
the  moment.  She  knew  her  home-going  would 
be  an  ordeal,  and  she  wondered  if  she  would  still 
be  strong  enough  to  answer  no  when  Bob  should 
meet  her  at  the  train  that  evening. 

Mrs.  Blake  was  away  when  they  reached  home, 


120  A  Reasonable  Service 

however,  and  she  drew  a  breath  of  relief.  Hes- 
ter's welcome  was  quite  as  warm  as  ever,  and  she 
left  her  preserving  kettle  to  look  out  for  itself 
while  she  hovered  around  Blythe  and  helped  with 
the  packing.  Mr.  Blake  came  upstairs  as  they 
were  finishing  and  helped  move  the  big  trunk 
which,  with  two  bags,  contained  most  of  Blythe's 
worldly  goods.  Then  he  closed  the  door  of  her 
room,  locked  it,  and  put  the  key  in  his  pocket. 

"It's  here  when  you  want  it  again,  honey,"  he 
said,  rather  brokenly. 

Blythe  wondered  if  it  were  chance  that,  as  they 
were  driving  out  into  the  road,  a  brewster-green 
runabout  should  appear  suddenly  in  a  cloud  of 
dust  and  stop  with  a  howling  of  brakes  to  let 
Neil  Cameron  out. 

"I  didn't  know  you  were  home,  Miss  Halli- 
day,"  he  said,  evidently  quite  well  pleased  to  have 
made  the  discovery. 

"I  am  going  back  on  the  five  o'clock  train," 
she  answered,  and  he  gave  her  a  quick  glance  and 
asked  no  questions. 

"I  intend  to  drive  to  the  city  this  evening,"  he 
informed  her.  "Would  you  care  to  go  in  the 
runabout?" 

Would  she  care  to  go?  Here  was  deliverance 
at  the  eleventh  hour!  But  her  reply  was  politely 


Commercial  Life  121 

reserved,    although    she   accepted   with   inward 
gratitude. 

On  the  way  she  told  him  briefly  of  the  occur- 
rences of  the  past  few  days.  "Only  three  days 
ago,"  she  said,  "I  told  you  I  wished  my  friends 
to  be  happy  and  myself  as  well ;  and  then  I  vol- 
untarily plunged  myself  into  ostracism  and  my 
friends  into  despair." 

"I  think  you  are  very  brave,"  he  answered, 
sincerely:  "the  more  so,  because  you  knew  just 
what  would  happen  if  you  did  it." 

They  rounded  a  curve  just  then,  and  in  the 
distance  the  city  appeared,  gray  and  mysterious 
in  the  twilight,  a  dream  city  of  the  dusk,  with  all 
its  misery  and  sin  and  squalor  veiled  by  the  sof- 
tening mantle  of  charity;  and  watching  it,  Blythe 
wondered  how  long  the  iron  hands  of  time  and 
circumstance  would  hold  her  there,  away  from 
the  country  home  she  loved. 

The  next  afternoon  she  received  a  visit  from 
Helene  Weston,  Bob's  sister. 

"Bob  was  awfully  put  out  last  night,"  she  said 
during  the  course  of  conversation.  "He  went  to 
the  station  to  meet  you,  and  when  you  weren't 
there  he  telephoned  Daisy  he  couldn't  come  on 
account  of  a  business  engagement — fancy  a  busi- 


122  A  Reasonable  Service 

ness  engagement  that  could  keep  Bob  away  from 
a  good  time!" 

"He  takes  altogether  too  much  for  granted," 
Blythe  replied,  decidedly.  "I  told  him  I  wouldn't 
go,  and  it  really  serves  him  right  that  a  chance 
came  along  and  I  came  down  in  a  car.  I  shall 
not  apologize." 

Helene  wisely  decided  it  was  time  to  change 
the  subject  and  did  so.  "Are  you  still  having 
meetings  at  the  tent?"  she  inquired.  "I  have  been 
hearing  about  them." 

"Yes,  all  this  week,  but  no  longer,  I  think." 
Jean,  who  had  stepped  into  the  next  room,  heard 
and  answered.  "Stay  all  night,  Helene,  and  go 
with  us  this  evening."  Which  invitation  was 
somewhat  unexpectedly  accepted. 

Blythe  observed  that  Helene  gave  the  speaker 
strict  attention  during  the  sermon  that  night  and 
that  she  seemed  to  be  thinking  deeply  as  they 
walked  home  together  after  the  service;  but  not 
until  they  were  alone  in  Blythe's  room,  which  she 
shared  for  the  night,  did  she  speak  of  what 
seemed  to  be  troubling  her. 

"Blythe,"  she  said,  "I  am  as  much  a  Latter 
Day  Saint  at  heart  as  you  are.  I  learned  all 
about  their  belief  last  summer  when  I  was  visit- 
ing a  school  friend.  Then  father  found  out  about 


Commercial  Life  128 

it  and  sent  for  me,  and  you  know  the  rest.  I'm 
engaged  to  Ted,  and  it  would  mean  giving 
everything  up  if  I  should  join  them  now.  What 
shall  I  do — what  can  I  do?" 

"There  is  only  one  thing  to  do,"  Blythe  said, 
"and  no  one  but  you  can  do  it.  Ask  God  to 
give  you  strength  to  take  the  right  way  as  you 
see  it  and  stick  to  it." 

"But  can't  you  see  what  it  would  mean?" 
Helene  paced  up  and  down  the  room  in  her  agi- 
tation. "It  would  mean  not  only  giving  up  my 
family  and  home,  but  Ted,  too.  He  would  never 
consent  for  his  wife  to  belong  to  an  unpopular 
church  like  this  and — I  love  Ted!" 

"And  yet,"  Blythe  reminded  her  gently, 
"what  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  shall  gain  the 
whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul?" 

"I  know,"  Helene  answered,  "but  I  can't  think 
to-night.  Perhaps  in  the  morning  I  shall  know 
better  what  to  do." 

When  morning  came,  however,  she  had  reached 
no  decision  save  that  she  was  going  home.  "I 
must  have  more  time  to  think  it  over,"  she  in- 
sisted. But  well  Blythe  knew  what  the  result 
would  be  under  the  influences  of  her  home  and 
friends,  and  she  was  not  surprised  a  few  months 
later  to  read  in  the  local  paper  of  Sardis  of  "one 


124  A  Reasonable  Service 

of  the  most  brilliant  social  functions  of  the  sea- 
son, the  marriage  of  Miss  Helene  Weston  and 
Theodore  Worthington,  a  successful  young  law- 
yer of  the  city." 

One  morning,  a  day  or  two  after  Helene's 
visit,  Ralph  called  her  after  reaching  the  factory. 
"Miss  Emerson  is  ill  to-day,"  he  said.  "Can  you 
come  out  and  help?" 

"Of  course,"  she  replied.  "I'll  be  glad  to  have 
something  to  do." 

In  a  short  time  she  was  at  the  office  and  busy 
at  work.  So  engrossed  did  she  become  that  she 
quite  forgot  the  view  from  the  window,  and  the 
street  and  factory  noises. 

"You're  all  right,"  Ralph  told  her  that  night 
as  they  went  home.  "If  I  have  any  influence 
with  Mr.  Aldrich  you'll  get  the  place." 

As  a  matter  of  fact  she  did  get  it  and  went  to 
work  the  next  week.  And  although  she  some- 
times grew  weary  and  disheartened,  for  the  most 
part  she  was  happy  and  contented.  She  was  glad 
to  find  that  Margaret  Cameron  was  the  factory 
nurse,  and  a  warm  friendship  sprang  up  between 
the  two  girls.  Often  Blythe  went  along  when 
Margaret  received  a  call  after  office  hours,  for 
she  was  learning  to  both  love  and  pity  the  factory 
people,  and  many  a  gift  of  fruit  and  flowers,  or 


Commercial  Life  125 

something  more  substantial,  found  its  way  to 
Margaret's  patients.  It  taxed  Blythe's  income 
sometimes,  and  she  was  learning  for  the  first  time 
in  her  life  the  real  worth  of  money.  Her  uncle 
had  sent  her  a  generous  check  after  her  return 
from  home,  but  after  tithing  it  she  thriftily 
banked  it  as  an  emergency  fund  and  set  to  work 
to  make  her  salary  cover  expenses,  with  the  re- 
sult that  very  often  the  money  she  had  put  away 
for  some  little  luxury  of  her  own  went  to  the  fruit 
vender  or  the  groceryman. 

"I  wish  I  knew  how  to  ease  pain  as  you  do," 
she  said  rather  enviously  to  Margaret  one  eve- 
ning, as  she  stood  watching  the  latter  bandage 
the  burned  limbs  of  a  child  and  saw  the  look  of 
pain  grow  less  on  the  little  face  as  the  soothing 
ointment  was  applied. 

"You  are  learning,"  was  the  reply,  "and  really, 
it  does  not  matter  so  much  what  we  do  if  we  do 
it  well — you  in  your  corner  and  I  in  mine." 

Blythe  smiled  at  the  words  of  the  old  song  she 
had  almost  forgotten.  Then  she  grew  grave 
again,  as  she  looked  around  the  bare  little  room 
with  its  broken  windows  and  unplastered  walls 
and  into  the  strip  of  grassless  yard  beyond. 

"Margaret,"  she  said  as  they  went  home  to- 
gether on  the  street  car,  "the  men  are  on  the 


126  A  Reasonable  Service 

verge  of  a  strike  at  the  factory.  They  want  more 
wages,  which  the  company  can  hardly  afford  to 
grant,  considering  the  returns  that  are  coming  in 
now.  I  know,  having  access  to  the  books.  But 
I  know  another  thing — that  if  those  people  had 
pleasant,  comfortable  homes  to  live  in  and  a  little 
more  opportunity  to  feed  their  souls  they 
wouldn't  be  so  full  of  seething  unrest.  The  com- 
pany owns  all  of  those  shanties  back  of  the  ware- 
house, and  if  the  owners  would  invest  a  few  thou- 
sands in  repairing  and  making  them  habitable — 
but  they  won't.  Ralph  broached  the  subject  to 
Mr.  Aldrich,  and  though  he  sympathizes  with 
the  idea,  the  owners  do  not — he  has  tried  to  get 
them  to  see  it,  himself." 

"I  know,"  Margaret  replied,  thoughtfully. 
"The  owners  think  they  are  doing  their  full  duty 
to  the  employees  by  hiring  a  nurse  to  look  after 
them,  but  so  many  of  the  accidents  and  illnesses 
are  caused  by  ignorance  and  lack  of  sanitation 
that  sometimes  I  get  almost  discouraged  and 
think  there  is  no  use  in  trying.  It  is  much  like 
healing  a  sore  in  one  place  only  to  have  it  break 
out  in  another." 

"You  are  a  veritable  angel  of  mercy,"  Blythe 
cried,  warmly.  "But  I  wish  I  could  do  some- 
thing. It  will  only  increase  the  misery  if  a  strike 


Commercial  Life  127 

is  called,  but  one  can  hardly  blame  them,  with 
winter  coming  on  and  the  cold  winds  blowing 
away  the  heat  through  the  cracks  as  fast  as  they 
pile  the  hard-earned  fuel  in.  If  they  could  only 
realize  what  they  really  need,  instead  of  the  per- 
petual cry  of  more  wages." 

"The  question  of  more  wages  is  a  problem, 
nevertheless,"  Margaret  said.  "I  know  families 
that  can  hardly  exist  on  what  the  father  earns— 
large  families  of  six  or  more.  The  children  go  to 
work  as  fast  as  they  are  old  enough,  denied  the 
heritage  a  free-born  American  child  has  a  right 
to,  a  childhood  and  an  education." 

"I  see,"  Blythe  replied.  "The  man  with  a  fam- 
ily of  eight  receives  the  same  as  the  one  with  no 
family  at  all.  That  really  seems  only  fair,  for 
one  man's  work  should  be  as  valuable  as  anoth- 
er's. One  trouble  is,  the  man  with  a  family 
failed  to  look  ahead  and  save  up  a  little,  and  the 
one  with  none  is  making  the  same  mistake  to- 
day. In  fact,  I  don't  suppose  there  is  much  to 
save,"  she  added,  thinking  of  how  her  own  salary 
had  dwindled  away  since  last  pay  day. 

She  sat  silent  for  a  while,  looking  out  of  the 
car  window.  It  was  one  of  those  dreary  autumn 
nights  with  a  wet  mist  falling  so  thickly  that  even 
the  street  lights  looked  damp  and  cheerless. 


128  A  Reasonable  Service 

"The  whole  economic  system  is  out  of  joint," 
she  decided,  finally.  "I  know  that  while  the 
manufacturer  sometimes  receives  excess  profits 
he  cannot  always  grant  the  increase  labor  de- 
mands, for  his  own  expenses  are  heavy  and  his 
returns  very  often  light.  I  know  that  organized 
labor  is  often  unreasonable,  demanding  more 
than  it  is  actually  worth  sometimes;  that  im- 
proper methods  of  marketing  and  distribution 
are  one  cause  of  the  high  prices  the  consumer  has 
to  pay  and  the  low  prices  the  producer  receives, 
with  the  corresponding  unrest  and  dissatisfac- 
tion everywhere.  But  what  can  we  do  about  it?" 

"There  is  only  one  remedy,"  Margaret  an- 
swered, "and  the  world  is  not  yet  ready  for  it—- 
the acceptance  of  those  rules  the  Lord  has  laid 
down  for  the  establishment  and  operation  of  Zion. 
Strikes  are  not  a  cure,  for  they  cause  more  mis- 
ery, and  I  suppose,  on  the  other  hand,  that  mis- 
ery is  the  cause  of  some  of  them,  at  least.  Take 
the  case  of  our  own  factory,  for  instance.  There 
is  a  certain  class  of  the  employees  who  could 
stand  a  few  days  or  weeks  of  idleness  without 
suffering;  those  who  have  a  little  laid  by,  who 
live  on  the  well-kept  and  prosperous-looking 
streets  a  little  distance  away  from  the  noise  and 
grime  of  the  plant.  But  we  know  what  it  would 


Commercial  Life  129 

mean  to  the  shanty  dwellers — and  there  is  where 
the  trouble  always  starts.  Their  homes  are  mis- 
erable makeshifts ;  there  are  innumerable  hungry 
mouths  to  feed,  and  many  of  them  are  foreign 
born.  What  more  could  an  agitator  wish?  When 
a  man's  family  is  cold  and  hungry,  he  will  listen 
to  anything.  And  when  trouble  is  once  started, 
all  members  of  the  union  must  necessarily  get  in 
line,  whether  they  want  to  or  not.  This  is  just 
as  true  when  a  nation-wide  strike  is  called  as 
when  there  is  local  trouble." 

"We  debated  all  those  things  in  school,"  Blythe 
said,  with  gentle  sarcasm,  "and  decided  that  we 
had  discovered  the  cause  and  effect,  and  that  as 
soon  as  we  were  admitted  into  the  world  of  busi- 
ness we  should  at  once  find  the  remedy — inex- 
perienced young  idiots  that  we  were!  The  more 
I  rub  up  against  the  real  thing  the  nearer  I  am 
convinced  that  the  trouble  lies  primarily  in  the 
innate  selfishness  of  mankind.  Not  that  all  man- 
kind is  selfish,  but  the  ones  who  are  trying  to 
right  the  wrongs  of  the  earth  are  so  much  in  the 
minority  that  they  make  very  slow  progress.  The 
giddy  old  world,  childish  with  age,  only  cries, 
'On  with  the  dance,'  and  keeps  on  with  the  mad 
whirl." 

Margaret  sat  listening  with  a  questioning 
RS— 9 


130  A  Reasonable  Service 

smile.  "I  wonder  if  you  are  the  same  girl  Neil 
described  to  me  a  few  months  ago — who  seemed 
to  have  discovered  the  fountain  of  perpetual 
happiness,"  she  said. 

"That  was  years  ago,"  Blythe  replied,  mus- 
ingly. "No,  I  am  not  the  same.  I  feel  sometimes 
like  a  made-over  garment  that  has  lost  its  fresh- 
ness. I  used  to  think  life  was  all  sunshine — that 
misery  and  want  existed  only  in  storybooks  or 
some  remote  corner  of  the  earth.  I  know  now 
that  it  is  at  our  very  doors,  but  I  am  happier, 
much  happier,  doing  what  little  I  can  to  help." 

Life  was  far  from  being  all  shadows  for 
Blythe,  however.  Her  newfound  faith  was  a 
constant  source  of  joy  to  her,  and  she  had  learned 
to  love  the  people  who  attended  services  at  the 
little  chapel.  Here  she  found  her  musical  talent 
of  unfailing  worth,  and  here  she  became  a  prime 
favorite  with  young  and  old.  There  were  good 
times  also,  many  of  them,  when  the  socially  in- 
clined met  at  the  various  homes  or  in  the  church 
basement  for  informal  gatherings,  and  she  won- 
dered sometimes,  looking  back,  how  the  old  life 
had  ever  satisfied  her. 

In  her  work  at  the  office  she  was  finding  pleas- 
ure, almost  contentment,  in  the  realization  that 
she  was  doing  a  day's  work  from  sun  to  sun.  She 


Commercial  Life  131 

succeeded  in  gaining  Mr.  Aldrich's  consent  to 
establish  a  small  mission  Sunday  school  for 
the  factory  children,  where  the  superintendent  of 
the  local  Sunday  school  was  only  too  glad  to 
gather  a  little  band  of  them  every  Sabbath  after- 
noon and,  with  the  aid  of  his  helpers,  teach  them 
the  gospel  story.  The  number  grew,  for  Blythe 
and  Margaret  were  gaining  the  friendship  and 
confidence  of  the  mothers  and  fathers,  and  soon 
the  empty  room  which  had  been  given  over  to  the 
school  bade  fair  to  become  too  small  for  its  pur- 
pose. 

Gradually  the  murmurs  of  discontent  grew 
less.  After  due  deliberation,  the  company  had 
granted  the  advance  in  wages  the  employees  de- 
manded, and  life  settled  back  to  its  old  channels. 
But  Blythe,  going  with  Margaret  on  her  errands 
of  mercy,  knew  the  revolt  was  still  seething,  and 
waited  with  trepidation  for  the  outbreak, 

Neil  sometimes  came  to  the  office  on  his  brief 
trips  to  the  city.  If  Ralph  was  absent  he  quietly 
helped  Blythe  with  her  work  or  sat  reading  until 
she  was  ready  to  go.  Then  he  would  take  her 
home  in  the  runabout,  stopping  for  Margaret  if 
she  happened  to  be  at  work  among  her  patients. 
Blythe  wondered  why  he  had  the  freedom  of  the 
factory  until  she  learned  of  his  friendship  with 


132  A  Reasonable  Service 

Mr.  Aldrich  and  that  he  had  at  one  time  been 
one  of  his  most  trusted  employees. 

One  December  day  she  received  a  call  from 
Bob.  His  visits  had  been  more  and  more  infre- 
quent of  late,  and  he  had  never  before  been  to 
the  factory. 

"I  came  out  to  see  what  kind  of  a  place  you 
have  to  work,"  he  said.  "And  I  find  you  here  in 
this  hole!  You  might  have  had  a  place  in  the 
bank  if  you  had  asked  for  it." 

"I  am  busy  and  happy,"  she  replied  briefly, 
clicking  away  at  her  typewriter.  He  sat  watch- 
ing her  quietly  for  a  few  moments,  noting  the 
soft  curve  of  her  cheek,  the  droop  of  her  long 
lashes  as  she  bent  over  her  work,  the  tendrils  of 
curling,  golden  hair,  like  yellow  sunshine  about 
her  face. 

"Blythe!"  he  burst  out  at  last,  "you're  alto- 
gether too  pretty  for  a  working  girl.  Why  don't 
you  cut  out  the  whole  miserable  business  and  live 
like  the  little  aristocrat  that  you  are?" 

She  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  shanties  through 
the  window,  sitting  forlornly  among  blackened, 
soot-covered  snowbanks,  and  her  soul  revolted 
within  her.  "The  day  of  the  aristocrat  is  pass- 
ing," she  said.  "I  am  proud  to  be  one  of  the 
workers,  for  when  all  is  told  they  are  the  only 


Commercial  Life  133 

ones  who  have  ever  helped  to  make  the  world  any 
better." 

"I  suppose  so;  and  then  the  world  turns  around 
and  gives  them  a  kick.  Blythe,  you  know  I  want 
you!"  he  said,  leaving  his  chair  to  come  and  stand 
at  her  side.  "I've  never  been  able  to  think  of 
you  as  any  other  man's  wife.  No,  not  even  since 
youVe  joined  that  abominable  church;  not  even 
since  we  can't  talk  together  fifteen  minutes  with- 
out a  clash  of  opinions.  Why  is  it,  I  wonder?" 

He  was  plainly  miserable,  and  Blythe  felt  a 
wave  of  pity  for  him.  "It  is  because  our  view- 
points have  changed,  Bob,"  she  said,  gently;  "or, 
rather,  mine  has  changed  and  yours  has  not.  But 
I  have  some  work  to  finish  to-night,  and  my  time 
is  my  employer's  now.  I'll  talk  to  you  when  I 
get  this  done." 

.  "It  seems  to  me  you  are  rather  particular  to 
whom  you  talk!"  he  said,  hotly.  "Don't  I  know 
that  Cameron  comes  up  here  and  wastes  your 
valuable  time  whenever  he  feels  like  it?  Oh,  I 
know.  I  might  have  expected  it — you  have  made 
a  wholesale  exchange  of  old  friends  for  new. 
Perhaps  that  is  why  you  turned  Mormon — be- 
cause he  is  one.  Perhaps— 

But  he  was  cut  short  by  a  flame  of  anger  from 
Blythe  that  sent  him  away  with  white  face  and 


134  A  Reasonable  Service 

set  lips,  though  she  was  sorry  for  her  loss  of  tem- 
per before  his  footsteps  had  ceased  echoing  down 
the  corridor.  "Poor  Bob,"  she  said  to  herself; 
"he's  worried  and  upset  or  he  would  never  have 
said  what  he  did/' 

Then  she  put  her  head  down  on  the  desk  and 
cried  a  little,  for  she  realized  better  than  he,  per- 
haps, that  their  paths  were  growing  farther  and 
farther  apart  as  surely  as  night  follows  day. 

She  felt  the  holiday  season  approaching,  with 
a  sense  of  indifference,  almost  of  dread,  but  she 
threw  herself  into  the  preparation  of  a  cantata 
at  the  church  and  a  tree  for  the  factory  children, 
and  forgot,  in  a  measure,  her  homesickness.  Then 
Mrs.  Cameron  invited  the  three  to  eat  dinner  at 
the  brown  bungalow,  and  she  found  the  day  pass- 
ing swiftly  and  not  unhappily. 

When  she  reached  home  that  night  she  found 
in  her  Christmas  mail  another  generous  check 
from  her  uncle  and  a  long  box  with  the  name  of 
an  exclusive  importer  and  dealer  on  the  cover, 
which,  when  she  opened  it,  proved  to  be  a  gift 
from  Bob — a  necklace  of  exquisitely  carved  ivory 
and  jade,  so  beautiful  that  she  gasped  at  its 
loveliness,  so  suggestive  of  the  luxury  it  sym- 
bolized that  she  felt  a  little  pang  for  the  moment. 


Commercial  Life  135 

With  it  was  a  card  which  said,  "My  peace  offer- 
ing and  many  good  wishes.    Bob." 

Her  first  impulse  was  to  show  it  to  Jean ;  her 
second,  to  put  it  back  into  its  case  and  address 
it  to  Bob,  together  with  a  brief  note  which  read: 

"Dear  Bob:  Believe  me,  please,  when  I  tell 
you  why  I  am  returning  this — because  even  our 
lifelong  friendship  cannot  warrant  my  acceptance 
of  such  a  valuable  gift  as  this.  I  truly  appre- 
ciate the  thought  that  prompted  your  sending  it, 
and  hope  you  will  not  misjudge  me  too  much. 

"Sincerely, 

"BLYTHE." 

With  the  coming  of  the  new  year  there  came 
severe  weather  and  its  attendant  suffering  in  the 
homes  of  poverty.  Again  the  murmuring  began, 
aggravated  by  the  laying  off  of  the  night  shift  on 
account  of  an  unexpected  slackness  of  orders. 

"Oi  tell  yez  we  don't  have  to  sthand  it!"  cried 
a  burly  Irishman,  father  of  five,  one  of  whom  was 
down  with  pneumonia.  He  was  speaking  to 
Blythe,  who  had  come  out  to  relieve  Margaret, 
for  the  influenza  was  raging  and  the  latter  was 
almost  worn  out  with  work  and  loss  of  sleep. 
"Here  we  sthay  like  hogs  in  a  house  wid  cracks 
ye  kin  trow  a  cat  tru." 


136  A  Reasonable  Service 

"Pat,  I  wish  you  had  asked  for  better  homes 
last  fall  instead  of  higher  wages.  You  might 
have  gotten  them  then,"  she  said,  though  in  her 
heart  she  did  not  believe  it. 

"We  need  more  wages,  too,"  he  muttered. 
"Next  time  we'll  ask  for  the  houses." 

But  evidently  Pat  was  overruled,  for  when  the 
demand  came,  it  was  for  shorter  hours  and  an 
increase  in  pay,  perhaps  in  the  hope  of  providing 
work  for  the  unemployed  night  shift.  This  the 
company  flatly  refused,  and  the  strike  became  a 
reality.  When  the  whistle  blew  one  morning 
there  was  no  sound  of  tramping  feet,  and  the  big 
plant  was  silent  and  empty. 

"I  have  received  orders  to  hire  outside  help  if 
the  employees  strike,"  Mr.  Aldrich  said  grimly 
to  Ralph  and  Blythe,  who  had  appeared  at  the 
usual  time.  "There  are  plenty  of  men  in  the  city 
who  need  work.  We  won't  have  to  shut  down 
long." 

True  to  his  word,  he  had  the  work  going  again 
in  a  few  days,  though  with  a  much  smaller  force 
than  before.  There  was  no  open  hostility,  but 
the  old  laborers  stood  in  knots  and  watched  the 
new  in  sullen  silence  as  they  crowded  in  and  out 
of  the  buildings,  and  Blythe,  looking  into  their 


Commercial  Life  137 

faces,  knew  that  revenge  would  come  sooner  or 
later. 

The  change  made  the  office  work  heavier,  and 
often  she  and  Ralph  and  Mr.  Aldrich  stayed  and 
worked  long  after  the  factory  had  closed  for  the 
night.  One  night  they  were  at  work  later  than 
usual,  Blythe  alone  in  the  office  where  the  other 
two  had  left  her,  to  visit  some  other  part  of  the 
plant.  She  was  busy  at  her  books  when  she  heard 
the  closing  of  a  door  downstairs.  She  was 
startled  for  an  instant,  for  the  doors  were  always 
locked  at  night,  but  remembering  that  it  was 
probably  Ralph  and  Mr.  Aldrich  returning,  she 
thought  no  more  of  it  and  went  back  to  her  work. 
Presently  she  became  aware  of  a  pungent  odor 
in  the  air,  the  scent  of  burning  wood;  and  filled 
with  sudden  alarm  she  slipped  from  her  stool 
and  threw  open  the  door  into  the  corridor.  Thin 
wisps  of  smoke  were  drifting  up  from  the  lower 
floor,  and  Blythe's  first  thought  was  of  escape. 
Then  she  remembered  that  the  alarm  must  be 
turned  in  or  the  whole  plant  would  go.  Like  a 
flash  came  the  thought  of  the  huddled  shanties, 
and  the  havoc  and  horror  that  might  follow  if  the 
fire  reached  them,  and  without  hesitation  she 
closed  the  door  and  went  to  the  telephone. 

But  the  dry  interior  of  the  old  building  burned 


138  A  Reasonable  Service 

like  tinder,  and  when  she  stepped  out  into  the 
hall  again  it  was  filled  with  suffocating  clouds  of 
smoke,  and  she  could  see  the  red  glow  of  fire  be- 
low. Choked  and  blinded,  she  was  forced  to  turn 
back  and  find  some  other  way  of  escape.  Another 
door  led  from  the  office  into  a  storeroom  beyond 
and  her  hand  was  on  the  latch  when  the  door 
into  the  corridor  was  burst  open  and  Neil  Cam- 
eron stood  beside  her.  Why  or  how  he  had  come 
she  did  not  know — she  only  knew  that  she  felt 
no  surprise  at  his  presence  there,  that  calm  and 
courage  came  to  her  as  he  caught  her  arm  and 
hurried  her  through  the  storeroom  and  into  a  side 
hall  that  was  comparatively  free  from  smoke. 
He  seemed  to  know  where  he  was  going,  for, 
feeling  along  the  wall,  he  found  an  outer  door 
and  threw  it  open.  At  their  feet  was  a  sheer  drop 
to  the  pavement,  thirty  feet  below. 

"I  thought  there  was  a  fire  escape  here,"  he 
said  in  disgust,  and  turned  hurriedly  back  into 
the  storeroom,  returning  with  a  coil  of  rope  he 
had  found  with  the  aid  of  a  pocket  flash-light. 

"Take  hold  with  your  hands  to  ease  the  strain 
on  your  body,"  he  directed,  knotting  it  quickly 
around  her. 

"But  you,  Neil!"  she  cried,  "What  will  you 
do?" 


Commercial  Life  189 

He  caught,  for  a  fleeting  second,  the  look  in 
her  eyes,  and  his  heart  leaped  with  something 
which  was  not  fear. 

"I'm  coming  too,  dear — I'd  follow  you  to  the 
end  of  the  earth  if  I  knew  you  wanted  me  to 
come,"  he  said  gently. 

She  shuddered  as  she  looked  down,  for  the 
smoke  was  already  drifting  between  her  and  the 
snowy  pavement;  then  taking  a  fresh  grip  on 
herself  she  grasped  the  rope  and  was  lowered  to 
safety  below.  With  swift  fingers  Neil  fastened 
the  end  he  was  holding  and  came  down  hand  over 
hand  just  as  the  belated  fire  engine  appeared, 
and  they  joined  the  crowd  of  excited  people  who 
had  collected  and  were  yelling  themselves  hoarse 
at  the  rescue. 

The  rest  of  the  events  of  the  night  were  like  a 
chaotic  dream  to  Blythe — their  frenzied  search 
through  the  crowd  for  Ralph  and  Mr.  Aldrich 
and  the  return  of  the  two  from  one  of  the  other 
buildings,  quite  unaware  that  anything  was 
wrong  until  the  noise  brought  them  out  to  see; 
the  fight  of  the  firemen  to  save  the  rest  of  the 
plant,  and  their  final  control  of  the  fire.  When 
the  excitement  was  over,  she  found  herself  shiv- 
ering with  cold  and  the  reaction,  and  heard  Neil 
reproaching  himself  for  his  neglect,  as  he 


140  A  Reasonable  Service 

wrapped  her  carefully  in  his  big  coat  and  whisked 
her  away  in  the  runabout  to  Jean,  who  knew 
nothing  of  the  disaster  until  they  came  home  with 
the  news. 


A  Discussion  of  Stewardship  Ideals 


A  Reasonable  Service  143 

CHAPTER  8 

A  DISCUSSION  OF  STEWARDSHIP  IDEALS 

WHEN  Blythe  opened  her  eyes  next 
morning,  she  was  lying  in  her  own 
white  bed  and  Margaret  Cameron  was 
moving  about  putting  the  room  to  rights. 

"I  suppose  you  imagine  I'm  sick,"  Blythe  ob- 
served, eyeing  the  antiseptic  young  woman  with 
disfavor. 

"You  are  under  the  care  of  a  trained  nurse  by 
Mr.  Aldrich's  orders,  at  least,"  Margaret  replied 
with  a  smile.  "He  says  you  are  the  most  valu- 
able employee  he  has  and  wants  you  well  taken 
care  of.  You  and  Neil  are  in  all  the  papers  this 
morning." 

"There  should  be  a  price  on  the  heads  of  all 
reporters,"  Blythe  said.  "I'm  perfectly  all  right 
this  morning,  though.  Just  tired.  How  is  Neil, 
and  why  aren't  you  at  home  looking  after  him, 
like  a  dutiful  sister?" 

"He's  feeling  almost  as  good  as  new,  except 
that  he  got  singed  a  little  last  night." 

"Why,  how  did  he  get  burned?"  asked  Blythe 
in  surprise.  "I  didn't." 


144  A  Reasonable  Service 

"Going  up  the  stairs  to  find  you,  I  suppose," 
was  the  answer.  "It  isn't  serious  at  all.  Just  a 
few  blisters  around  his  head  and  face  and  some 
missing  hair  and  eyebrows.  He'll  be  all  right. 
He  wanted  me  to  come  to  you.  Betty's  looking 
after  him,"  she  added,  with  a  mischievous  look  in 
her  eyes. 

"You  had  better  look  after  him  yourself," 
Blythe  advised,  rather  resentfully.  "I'm  all 
right,  only  just — tired,"  she  finished  drowsily, 
and  in  a  few  moments  her  regular  breathing  told 
Margaret  she  was  asleep  again.  In  fact,  she  was 
quite  worn  out  with  the  work  and  anxiety  of  the 
past  few  weeks,  though  she  had  not  realized  it, 
and  welcomed  a  chance  to  lie  blissfully  in  bed 
and  rest. 

"She  seems  to  be  all  right,"  Margaret  told 
Jean  downstairs.  "No  sign  of  cold,  even.  Just 
let  her  sleep  now.  There's  nothing  for  me  to  do, 
so  I'll  run  along." 

"I  wish  you'd  stay  and  answer  the  telephone," 
Jean  declared.  "I've  been  absolutely  over- 
whelmed with  inquiries  this  morning,  even  from 
Sardis.  Uncle  John  saw  the  account  in  the  morn- 
ing papers  and  was  anxious  about  it,  of  course." 

By  the  next  day  Blythe  was  downstairs,  quite 
herself  again,  except  for  an  unusual  weariness. 


Stewardship  Ideals  145 

"Neil  telephoned  just  before  you  came  down," 
Jean  told  her.  "He  and  his  mother  are  coming 
over  if  you  feel  like  having  company." 

"I  don't  see  why  I  shouldn't,"  Blythe  declared. 
"One  would  think  I'm  convalescing  from  some 
dangerous  illness,  the  fuss  everyone  makes." 

At  the  brown  bungalow  Neil  was  having  a 
rather  bad  time  with  himself  as  he  ran  out  the 
runabout  and  prepared  it  for  the  drive  to  Sardis, 
for  there  he  intended  to  go  when  he  had  paid  his 
respects  to  Blythe.  Viewed  in  the  sober  light  of 
day,  the  words  he  had  spoken  to  her  the  night 
before  seemed  rashly  unwise. 

"Why  didn't  I  wait?"  he  groaned  to  himself. 
"I  can't  press  the  matter  now,  for  if  I  do  she  will 
think  I'm  cad  enough  to  expect  her  to  marry  me 
out  of  gratitude.  It  seems  to  me  I'm  in  a  deu- 
cedly  awkward  position  any  way  I  can  fix  it." 
Then  his  mind  came  back  to  the  only  question 
that,  after  all,  made  any  real  difference.  "I  won- 
der if  I  was  right  last  night — if  she  really  cares." 

Blythe's  greeting  was  so  naturally  and  unaf- 
fectedly like  herself,  however,  that  he  wisely  re- 
solved to  let  the  matter  rest  and  talk  about  some- 
thing more  tangible  and  less  dangerous. 

"I  was  out  to  the  factory  this  morning,"  he 
told  her.  "The  main  building  is  only  a  pile  of 

RS— 10 


146  A  Reasonable  Service 

ruins ;  and  it  is  a  good  thing,  too,  for  it  was  noth- 
ing but  a  trap.  I  don't  see  how  they  ever  saved 
the  others,  as  close  as  they  were  together,  but 
they  are  safe  and  everything  is  quiet  there  now. 
Do  you  suppose  the  fire  was  accidental?" 

She  shook  her  head  and  told  him  what  she 
knew.  "I  am  sure  some  one  came  in  and  set  it 
inside,"  she  said.  "No  doubt  they  thought  every- 
one was  gone,  for  we  always  keep  the  doors 
locked  after  closing  time  and  we  were  later  than 
usual  last  night.  The  intruder  must  have  forced 
an  entrance  in  some  way.  I  have  felt  sure  some 
sort  of  trouble  was  brewing  ever  since  the  new 
laborers  came,  but  I  do  not  think  there  was  any 
general  plan  among  the  men  to  do  this,  for  no 
level-headed  person  would  consent  to  such  an 
insane  act.  It  must  have  been  done  by  a  few  of 
the  more  inflammatory  ones — some  of  the  shanty 
dwellers,  no  doubt." 

"Neil,"  she  asked  after  a  moment's  silence, 
"how  did  you  happen  to  be  there  so  late  last 
night?  I  have  been  wondering  about  it  all  day." 

"I  don't  know,"  he  replied,  thoughtfully.  "I 
had  no  intention  of  coming  ten  minutes  before  I 
started.  Then  something  told  me  I  was  needed, 
and  I  left  Sardis  as  soon  as  I  could  get  the  car 
out  of  the  garage.  I  telephoned  Jean  from 


Stewardship  Ideals  147 

mother's  and  she  said  you  were  at  the  factory.  I 
thank  God  I  went  there  at  once!" 

She  was  quiet  a  moment,  listening  absent- 
mindedly  to  Mrs.  Cameron  and  Jean  in  the  next 
room  as  they  discussed  some  new  beauty  in  the 
latter's  windowful  of  blossoming  plants.  Then 
she  turned  to  him  and  said,  "I  haven't  thanked 
you,  Neil,  because  I  knew  you  wouldn't  care  to 
have  me;  but  you  are  a  friend  I  am  glad  and 
proud  to  own!"  And  Neil  very  nearly  forgot  his 
resolution  of  an  hour  ago  as  he  clasped  the  small 
hand  she  held  out  to  him. 

Not  many  days  passed  until  work  was  resumed 
at  the  factory.  New  machinery  was  installed 
temporarily  in  some  of  the  smaller  buildings  and 
plans  were  made  to  begin  on  a  main  structure  as 
soon  as  the  weather  permitted.  Many  of  the  old 
employees  came  back  and  asked  for  work, 
shocked  into  the  fear  that  they  would  find  noth- 
ing to  do  the  rest  of  the  winter  by  the  disaster 
that  had  threatened  to  annihilate  their  homes  as 
well  as  their  means  of  a  livelihood. 

A  temporary  office  was  fitted  up  and  soon 
Blythe  was  at  her  old  task.  The  bitter  weather 
had  moderated,  and  with  the  warmer  days  of 
February  there  was  less  suffering  and  disease 
among  the  factory  people,  so  she  found  her  time 


148  A  Reasonable  Service 

less  fully  occupied.  Margaret,  too,  welcomed  the 
change,  for  the  work  of  the  winter  had  been  a 
severe  strain  upon  even  her  sturdy  constitution, 
and  she  felt  a  decided  need  for  rest. 

One  evening  Blythe  was  curled  lazily  in  a  big 
arm  chair,  with  a  pile  of  books  and  magazines 
beside  her,  waiting  for  Ralph  and  Jean  to  return 
from  a  trip  down  town,  when  the  door  bell  rang 
and  she  found  that  her  caller  was  Bob  Weston. 

"I  have  been  intending  to  come  ever  since  the 
night  of  the  fire,"  he  said.  "It  doesn't  matter 
why  I  haven't,  I  guess." 

Somehow  he  did  not  seem  quite  like  the  Bob 
she  had  always  known.  His  face  was  a  little  paler 
and  he  seemed  unusually  quiet.  He  answered  her 
questions  and  tried  to  keep  up  his  end  of  the  con- 
versation for  a  while,  but  presently  he  broke  off 
and  asked  abruptly,  "Are  you  going  to  marry 
Neil  Cameron,  Blythe?" 

"Why,  no — not  that  I  know  of,"  she  replied, 
somewhat  disconcerted  by  the  unexpected  query. 
"Why  do  you  ask  me  that?" 

"Oh,  no  reason  in  particular.  I  just  wished 
to  tell  you  that  you  might  do  worse.  I  was  out 
there  the  night  of  the  fire — oh,  I  know  you  didn't 
see  me,  but  I  was  there,  nevertheless.  Cameron 
went  up  those  flaming  stairs  at  three  bounds.  I 


Stewardship  Ideals  149 

was  just  behind,  but  they  held  me  and  wouldn't 
let  me  go.  'There's  no  use  in  your  risking  your 
life,  too,'  one  man  told  me,  and  thought  he  was 
being  kind.  'If  there  is  anything  to  be  done  in 
there  Cameron  will  do  it!'  I'd  have  given  my 
right  hand  to  have  had  him  say  that  about  me!" 

What  an  admission  for  Bob  to  make!  Blythe 
lay  back  in  her  chair,  watching  him  in  wonder  as 
he  paced  up  and  down  the  room. 

"I  saw  you  again  just  as  you  reached  the 
ground — I  saw  you  watching  him  come  down  the 
rope,  with  your  heart  in  your  eyes!  You  have 
never  looked  at  me  like  that  in  all  the  years  I 
have  known  you!  And  so  I've  decided  there's  no 
use — is  there  any  hope  for  me,  Blythe?'' 

She  shook  her  head  without  speaking. 

"I  thought  as  much — I  just  wanted  to  be 
sure,"  he  said,  "and  so  I'll  go  my  way  and  you 
will  go  yours.  I've  lost  you  by  my  own  worth- 
lessness,  I  suppose.  But  the  world  is  large  and 
I  may  find  something  worth  while  to  do,  yet.  If 
I  do,  it  will  be  due  to  some  of  the  jolts  you  have 
given  me,  perhaps!" 

"Don't,  Bob ;  please  don't !"  she  begged.  Here 
was  a  new  Bob;  one  she  could  not  understand. 
"Have  I  been  so  utterly  heartless?" 

"No,  you  have  not  been  heartless.     I  needed 


150  A  Reasonable  Service 

something  hard  to  wake  me  up.  I'm  going  away 
soon — I  don't  know  just  where,  yet,  but  the  bank 
stifles  me!  So  this  is  my  farewell.  I've  been  try- 
ing to  come  for  weeks  but — I  couldn't.  Good-by, 
Blythe;  good-by!" 

Not  trusting  herself  to  speak,  Blythe  held  out 
her  hands  to  him.  He  looked  at  them,  lying  in 
his  own,  for  a  moment;  then  he  lifted  first  one 
and  then  the  other  to  his  lips,  and  went  away 
into  the  night.  And  when  Jean  came  up  to 
Blythe's  room  to  chat  a  moment  before  going  to 
bed,  she  was  much  concerned  to  find  her  in  tears. 

With  the  coming  of  warmer  weather  John 
Blake  drove  often  to  the  city.  Usually  he  went 
on  Sunday,  that  he  might  attend  the  morning 
service  at  the  white  chapel — for  the  seed  sown  in 
his  heart  years  agone  was  beginning  to  swell  and 
grow.  There  was  another  chapel  somewhat  simi- 
lar in  Sardis,  and  very  often  the  "chummy"  road- 
ster was  seen  parked  outside,  in  spite  of  Mrs. 
Blake's  protests. 

"I  don't  interfere  with  your  religion,  Lillian," 
her  husband  would  assure  her  calmly,  "and  you 
have  no  right  to  interfere  with  mine." 

So  it  happened  that  he  might  have  been  seen  in 
the  city  one  bright  spring  day,  with  most  of  the 
available  space  in  the  roadster  filled  with  Easter 


Stewardship  Ideals  151 

eggs  and  candy  rabbits  for  the  factory  children. 
He  always  took  Blythe  out  to  the  mission  Sun- 
day school  when  he  was  in  the  city,  and  his  ap- 
pearance was  a  never-failing  source  of  delight  to 
his  small  acquaintances,  with  whom  he  was  be- 
coming quite  intimate.  The  school  was  growing 
and  there  were  adult  classes  now,  for  the  fathers 
and  mothers  were  being  drawn  in  by  the  interest 
of  their  children. 

To-day  a  thunder  shower  threatened,  and  as 
soon  as  the  service  was  over  the  cars  which  had 
brought  the  superintendent  and  his  helpers  out 
hurried  back  into  the  city.  With  Blythe  at  the 
wheel,  Mr.  Blake  holding  his  breath  beside  her, 
and  Jean  and  Ralph  tucked  in  behind,  the  big 
roadster  made  amazingly  good  time  on  the  return 
trip,  and  they  reached  the  curb  in  front  of  the 
house  just  as  the  first  rush  of  rain  came  down. 

"What  fun!"  cried  Blythe  as  they  raced  madly 
up  the  walk  to  the  shelter  of  the  porch.  "It  re- 
minds me  of  the  time  when  I  was  young!  Why, 
we  have  a  visitor!"  she  added,  as  Neil  arose  from 
the  porch  swing  and  came  forward  with  a  book  in 
his  hand. 

"I  knew  you  would  soon  be  back,  so  I  made 
myself  comfortable,"  he  said.  "The  runabout  re- 
fused to  work  this  morning,  but  I  coaxed  it  up 


152  A  Reasonable  Service 

and  came  this  afternoon — and  found  everyone 
gone  and  the  doors  locked  over  home." 

"Well,  why  didn't  you  wait  on  your  own 
porch?"  inquired  Jean,  inhospitably.  "Is  ours 
more  attractive?" 

"Aren't  you  afraid  of  hurting  my  feelings, 
Jean?"  he  asked,  with  a  grin;  but  Jean  only 
laughed  teasingly  and  led  the  way  into  the  house, 
for  the  rain  was  pouring  now,  and  bringing  with 
it  the  chill  of  an  early  spring  shower. 

"What  have  you  been  reading,  Neil?"  Blythe 
inquired ;  then,  as  he  held  up  a  small  book  bound 
in  flexible  leather,  "Oh,  the  Book  of  Doctrine 
and  Covenants." 

"Yes,"  he  replied;  "I  have  been  looking  up  all 
I  can  find  on  the  subject  of  Zion.  The  theme  has 
a  never-failing  attraction  for  me — perhaps  be- 
cause, as  Mr.  Blake  told  me  once,  I  am  a 
dreamer,"  he  added  with  a  smile. 

"I  should  like  to  hear  what  you  have  learned 
about  this  Zion  that  is  to  be  established,"  said 
John  Blake  with  sudden  animation;  "it  interests 
me.  I  am  something  of  a  dreamer  myself,  you 
know,  and  if  there  is  any  way  of  making  my 
dreams  come  true  by  putting  them  into  practical 
operation,  I  wish  to  know  it.  Everywhere  I  go 
among  the  members  of  your  church  I  hear  this 


Stewardship  Ideals  153 

same  subject  discussed.  It  seems  to  be  moving 
upon  the  minds  of  all.  It  is  one  of  the  things  we 
did  not  hear  much  about  when  I  went  to  church 
years  ago.  Is  it  a  fanatical  dream,  or  is  there 
really  something  divine  back  of  it?" 

"If  there  is  anything  divine  back  of  the  work," 
Neil  replied,  "there  surely  is  divinity  behind  the 
Zionic  plan.  It  is  not  the  dream  of  a  fanatic,  but 
a  plan  given  by  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth. 
We  have  nothing  to  fear  if,  in  the  establishment 
of  Zion,  we  follow  closely  the  law  laid  down  by 
the  Master  Mind.  We  have  even  the  proof  writ- 
ten down  in  history  that  it  will  succeed,  for  the 
city  builded  by  Enoch  ages  ago  was  governed  by 
the  same  laws  of  equality  and  brotherly  love  that 
are  given  us  to-day.  In  the  thirty-sixth  section 
of  the  latter-day  revelations  and  the  seventh 
chapter  of  Genesis,  Inspired  Version,  we  read 
that  the  Lord  in  those  days  called  his  people 
Zion  because  they  were  of  one  heart  and  one 
mind,  and  dwelt  in  righteousness ;  and  there  was 
no  poor  among  them. 

"You  see  there  are  many  qualifications  re- 
quired of  the  people  to  whom  this  wonderful  task 
is  given.  They  must  be  humble  and  full  of  love; 
they  must  be  unselfish,  willing  to  impart  of  their 
substance  to  those  in  need.  In  the  Fishing  River 


154  A  Reasonable  Service 

revelation  we  find  that  the  lack  of  these  qualifi- 
cations hindered  the  redemption  of  Zion  in  the 
beginning  of  the  latter-day  work." 

"What  about  this  law  of  equality?"  inquired 
Mr.  Blake.  "I  have  been  doing  a  little  studying 
myself  and  in  one  place  in  the  Book  of  Covenants 
I  find,  'In  your  temporal  things  ye  shall  be  equal, 
and  this  not  grudgingly,  otherwise  the  manifes- 
tations of  the  Spirit  shall  be  withheld.' ' 

"The  law  of  equality  is  one  of  the  fundamental 
principles  by  which  the  establishment  of  Zion  is 
to  be  accomplished,"  Neil  answered.  "Let  me 
read  to  you  from  the  fourth  verse  of  the  eighty- 
first  section:  'You  are  to  be  equal,  or  in  other 
words,  you  are  to  have  equal  claims  on  the  prop- 
erties, for  the  benefit  of  managing  the  concerns 
of  your  stewardships,  every  man  according  to  his 
wants  and  his  needs,  inasmuch  as  his  wants  are 
just.'  The  fact  that  this  was  given  to  certain  in- 
dividuals does  not  confine  its  application  to  them 
alone,  for  reading  on,  we  find,  'And  all  this  for 
the  benefit  of  the  church  of  the  living  God,  that 
every  man  may  improve  upon  his  talent,  that 
every  man  may  gain  other  talents;  yea,  even  an 
hundredfold,  to  be  cast  into  the  Lord's  store- 
house, to  become  the  common  property  of  the 
whole  church,  every  man  seeking  the  interest  of 


Stewardship  Ideals  155 

his  neighbor,  and  doing  all  things  with  an  eye 
single  to  the  glory  of  God." 

"Do  I  gather  from  this,  then,  that  my  neigh- 
bor's frying-pan,  for  instance,  is  as  much  mine  as 
it  is  my  neighbor's?"  Mr.  Blake  wished  to  know. 

"I  do  not  understand  it  so,"  Neil  replied,  smil- 
ing. "The  Saints  are  to  receive  inheritances. 
This  fact  runs  all  through  the  Book  of  Doctrine 
and  Covenants.  When  I  receive  an  inheritance 
it  is  mine — no  one  can  take  it  from  me;  no  one 
has  a  share  in  it  unless  I  bestow  it  upon  him. 
These  are  to  be  obtained  by  purchase,  and  if  I 
should  go  down  and  purchase  a  tract  of  land  in 
the  region  of  Zion  it  would  be  as  much  mine  as 
if  I  should  purchase  it  right  here.  If  I  could  pay 
for  it  in  full,  I  should  be  expected  to  consecrate 
that  which  is  left,  if  there  is  any,  after  the  just 
wants  and  needs  of  myself  and  those  dependent 
upon  me  are  supplied*  and  after  I  have  deducted 
the  amount  necessary  for  the  carrying  on  of  my 
business.  Also,  under  the  law,  my  increase  must 
be  tithed.  If  I  am  not  able  to  pay  in  full  for  my 
inheritance  I  am  immune  from  the  law  of  conse- 
cration until  it  is  paid  for,  but  this  does  not  ex- 
cuse me  from  paying  my  tithing.  If  I  am  ca- 
pable of  managing  more  than  my  inheritance,  by 
stewardship  may  be  enlarged  indefinitely,  but 


156  A  Reasonable  Service 

always  that  which  is  produced  above  my  just 
wants  and  needs  returns  to  the  church  to  be  used 
for  the  mutual  benefit  of  all." 

"I  see  how  this  would  tend  towards  equality," 
said  Mr.  Blake,  thoughtfully.  "There  would  be 
no  piling  up  of  surplus  wealth  by  individuals, 
but  a  distribution  of  it  where  it  is  most  needed. 
But  suppose  sudden  illness  or  unexpected  ex- 
pense should  come  up?  Where  would  the  man 
be  who  had  consecrated  all  of  his  surplus?" 

"I  cannot  believe  that  he  is  expected  to  shave 
his  bank  account  so  closely  that  there  would  be 
nothing  for  an  emergency,"  Neil  replied;  "but 
if  he  should  find  that  he  needed  more  he  would 
certainly  be  entitled  to  assistance  from  the  church 
if  he  had  been  keeping  the  law  by  which  it  is  gov- 
erned. You  will  remember  that  I  read  to  you  a 
while  ago  that  the  Saints  are  to  have  equal  claims 
on  the  properties,  for  the  benefit  of  managing  the 
concerns  of  their  stewardships.  When  we  are  all 
working  on  a  stewardship  basis,  happy  in  seeing 
our  brother  prosper  as  we  ourselves,  loving  one 
another  to  the  extent  that  we  can  overlook  petty 
faults  or  go  to  one  another  in  kindness  when 
larger  ones  appear,  then  we  shall  find  that  the 
largest  obstacle  has  been  removed  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  Zion,  for  Zion  is  'the  pure  in  heart.' 


Stewardship  Ideals  157 

"But  if  all  have  an  equal  claim  on  the  proper- 
ties, wouldn't  there  be  a  good  chance  for  graft? 
All  men  aren't  honest,  you  know?  Wouldn't  it 
be  easy  for  a  man  to  get  a  hand-out  whether  he 
deserved  it  or  not?"  Mr.  Blake  was  evidently 
seeking  exhaustive  information. 

"Not  while  the  law  of  the  Lord  is  enforced  and 
our  men  of  the  bishopric  have  the  keenness  of 
vision  they  possess  to-day.  The  law  says  plainly 
that  the  'idler  shall  not  have  place  in  the  church,' 
and  precautions  are  being  taken  by  those  in  au- 
thority which  make  it  increasingly  hard  for  an 
unworthy  individual  to  get  by.  In  harmony 
with  the  instruction  given  in  section  seventy-two, 
anyone  wishing  to  locate  in  the  region  known  as 
Zion  must  file  an  inventory  of  that  which  he  pos- 
sesses with  the  bishopric  and  take  with  him  a  cer- 
tificate signed  by  the  bishop  or  three  elders  of  his 
home  district  to  present  to  the  presiding  bishop, 
if  he  desires  to  be  accounted  a  wise  steward  and 
receive  an  inheritance  in  Zion. 

"We  have  great  things  to  look  forward  to," 
he  continued  with  increasing  earnestness,  "when 
the  lands  are  purchased  as  the  Lord  commanded 
them  to  be  so  many  years  ago.  We  shall  see  mills 
and  factories  built  that  will  give  employment  to 
thousands  of  our  people.  They  will  not  be 


158  A  Reasonable  Service 

ground  down  under  the  heel  of  big  business,  but 
will  be  given  a  chance  to  work  for  that  God-given 
right — a  home  of  their  own.  I  see  no  reason  why 
they  should  not  be  allowed  to  buy  shares  in  the 
plants  where  they  are  at  work ;  it  would  give  them 
an  income  for  old  age  and  take  the  burden  of 
much  of  the  handling  of  money  from  the  bishop. 
These  details  will  be  worked  out,  however,  as  the 
need  demands  and  the  Spirit  of  inspiration  di- 
rects. Just  now  there  is  little  work  there  for  the 
day  laborer,  and  the  demand  is  for  consecrated 
men  and  women  who  will  go  with  the  one  ideal  in 
mind  of  assisting  in  the  building  up  of  Zion. 
Men  of  some  means  are  needed,  those  who  are 
able  to  make  their  own  way  without  being  a  bur- 
den upon  the  church,  but  most  of  all  are  needed 
those  whose  hearts  are  filled  with  love  and  the 
spirit  of  service." 

Outside  the  spring  rain  was  pouring,  and  Mr. 
Blake  arose  and  walked  to  the  window  to  look  for 
a  break  in  the  clouds. 

"You  may  as  well  prepare  to  stay  here  to- 
night, Uncle  John,"  Jean  observed.  "It  has  al- 
ready rained  enough  to  make  the  road  slippery." 

"Yes,  sit  down,  uncle,"  Ralph  urged.  "I'll  con- 
fess I'm  learning  something  new  right  along.  If 
this  plan  succeeds,  as  we  have  every  reason  to 


Stewardship  Ideals  159 

believe  it  will  do,  we  shall  be  relieved  of  the  worry 
and  suffering  caused  by  such  occurrences  as  we 
had  here  last  winter.  Strikes  and  walkouts  will 
be  unknown  in  this  land  of  brotherly  love,  for 
every  man  will  have  the  interest  of  his  neighbor 
at  heart  as  much  as  his  own." 

Blythe,  listening  with  visions  in  her  eyes,  said 
nothing  at  all,  but  she  was  seeing  in  fancy  a  row 
of  neat  cottages,  each  in  the  midst  of  a  grassy 
yard,  where  the  factory  children  romped  and 
played,  with  roses  in  their  cheeks  and  the  blessed 
sunshine  above  them,  undimmed  by  any  drifting 
pall  of  smoke.  She  saw  the  men  and  women  of 
the  factory  busy  and  happy  at  their  work,  the 
cloud  of  sullen  resentment  gone  from  their  faces, 
knowing  they  were  no  longer  slaves  of  toil  but 
free-born  citizens,  earning  a  livelihood  by  the 
sweat  of  honest  labor,  even  as  their  brethren  and 
sisters  all  around  them  were  doing.  And  in  her 
heart  she  rejoiced  that  she  had  found  this  gospel 
of  wonderful  promises  and  high  ideals. 

"Do  you  think  the  time  has  come  for  the  gath- 
ering to  begin?"  Jean  inquired. 

"It  has  already  begun,"  Neil  replied,  "but  the 
command  should  be  heeded,  'Let  not  your  gath- 
ering be  in  haste  nor  by  flight ;  but  let  all  things 
be  prepared  before  you;  and  in  order  that  all 


160  A  Reasonable  Service 

things  be  prepared  before  you,  observe  the  com- 
mandments which  I  have  given  concerning  these 
things,  which  saith,  or  teacheth,  to  purchase  all 
the  lands  by  money  which  can  be  purchased  for 
money  in  the  region  round  about  the  land  which 
I  have  appointed  to  be  the  land  of  Zion,  for  the 
beginning  of  the  gathering  of  my  Saints ;  all  the 
land  which  can  be  purchased  in  Jackson  County, 
and  the  counties  round  about,  and  leave  the  resi- 
due in  mine  hand.'  I  am  reading  now  from  the 
ninth  verse  of  section  ninety-eight.  You  see,  the 
first  step  must  be  the  purchase  of  lands — Zion 
must  first  be  established  agriculturally.  This  will 
be  accomplished  in  two  ways — purchase  by  indi- 
viduals who  are  moved  upon  to  go  and  buy  lands 
for  themselves,  and  purchase  by  the  bishopric  of 
the  church  with  funds  obtained  through  conse- 
cration and  offerings.  When  every  member  of 
the  church  obeys  the  financial  law,  then  will  the 
redemption  of  Zion  be  quickly  brought  about, 
for  there  will  be  enough  that  these  other  indus- 
tries may  soon  be  established.  Then  and  not  until 
then,  will  the  invitation  be  extended  to  all,  'Come 
and  gather  unto  Zion,  for  there  is  work  for  all,' 
and  the  promise  be  fulfilled,  'It  shall  come  to 
pass  that  the  righteous  shall  be  gathered  out  from 


Stewardship  Ideals  161 

among  all  nations,  and  shall  come  to  Zion  sing- 
ing, with  songs  of  everlasting  joy.' ' 

"You  mean,"  observed  Ralph,  "that  the  church 
is  not  in  a  position  now  to  give  help  or  work  to 
all  who  wish  to  gather;  that  no  one  should  go 
who  does  not  have  some  definite  means  of  liveli- 
hood in  view,  or  some  special  work  to  do  when 
they  get  there." 

"That's  it,  exactly.  And  right  here  let  me  say, 
that  those  who  desire  or  expect  to  aid  in  the 
building  up  of  Zion  must  prepare  themselves  to 
be  able  to  do  some  useful,  constructive  work.  We 
should  not  sit  down  and  make  no  effort  to  get 
ready  to  go.  We  should  endeavor  to  prepare 
ourselves,  both  spiritually  and  financially,  for  the 
Lord  says  in  section  fifty-eight,  'It  is  not  meet 
that  I  should  command  in  all  things,  for  he  that 
is  compelled  in  all  things,  the  same  is  a  slothful 
and  not  a  wise  servant,'  and  further  on,  'He  that 
doeth  not  anything  until  he  is  commanded  and 
receiveth  it  with  doubtful  heart  and  keepeth  it 
with  slothfulness,  the  same  is  damned.'  So  we 
must  move  forward  trustingly  as  the  way  opens 
before  us,  for  the  Lord  has  said  that  Zion  must 
be  redeemed  and  the  fulfillment  of  prophecy 
warns  us  that  the  time  is  short.  If  we  fail  or  step 
aside  the  work  will  roll  on  just  the  same,  for  the 
RS— 11 


162  A  Reasonable  Service 

time  is  surely  coming  when  'Zion  shall  flourish 
upon  the  hills,  and  rejoice  upon  the  mountains, 
and  shall  be  assembled  together  unto  the  place 
which  I  [the  Lord]  have  appointed/  even  though 
chaos  and  darkness  reign  outside  her  bounda- 


ries." 


"There  seems  to  be  some  difference  of  opinion 
among  the  Saints  as  to  how  far  the  boundaries 
of  Zion  extend/'  Ely  the  observed,  breaking  her 
silence  for  the  first  time.  "Some  believe  the 
whole  of  this  great  country  of  ours  is  included — 
that  it  is  foolish  to  gather  into  one  place  at  all." 

"We  are  told/'  Neil  replied,  "that  in  time  to 
come  the  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth,  and  the 
glory  of  the  Lord  cover  it;  but  the  one  thing  em- 
phasized now  is  to  'purchase  the  lands  in  Jackson 
County  that  can  be  purchased,  and  in  the  adjoin- 
ing counties  round  about/  We  find  mention  of 
it  again  in  Doctrine  and  Covenants  102,  the  reve- 
lation given  on  Fishing  River. 

"The  Lord  still  declares  that  he  changes  not 
when  in  section  127  he  tells  the  church:  'As  the 
saints  have  heretofore  been  instructed  in  refer- 
ence to  the  gathering,  they  are  now  again  ad- 
monished that  the  gathering  must  not  be  in  haste, 
nor  without  due  preparation,  and  must  be  done 
in  accordance  with  the  revelation  given  to  the 


Stewardship  Ideals  163 

church  upon  Fishing  River  and  in  accordance 
with  the  counsel  and  advice  of  the  elders  of  the 
church  whose  duty  it  has  been  made  to  counsel 
and  advise  the  saints.' 

"Oh,  if  only  those  early  Saints  had  heeded  the 
admonition,  how  far  along  might  we  be  now  in 
the  establishment  of  Zion!  Even  yet  some  use 
the  command  not  to  gather  in  haste  as  an  excuse 
to  rest  upon  their  oars  in  this  great  work  ahead 
of  us.  It  seems  to  me  that  now  is  the  greater 
need  of  haste — we  have  wasted  so  much  precious 
time!  Not  the  kind  that  drives  men  and  women 
helter-skelter  into  Jackson  County,  but  a  wise, 
systematic,  intelligent  haste  that  begins  in  care- 
ful and  prayerful  preparation  and  brooks  no  de- 
lay when  the  opportunity  for  action  arrives. 

"Then  shall  we  not  be  oppressed  by  the  knowl- 
edge that  when  the  time  of  trouble  and  great 
tribulation  shall  come  upon  the  earth  we  shall  be 
found  without  a  place  of  refuge.  Even  now 
we  can  see  the  dark  storm  clouds  rolling  across 
the  blue  sky  of  our  vision.  Even  now  nation 
looks  with  watchful  eye  upon  nation;  even  now 
labor  and  capital  stand  ready  to  fly  at  one  an- 
other's throats,  while  murder,  theft,  and  violence 
stalk  abroad  through  the  land. 

"Surely,  with  the  events  of  every  day  unrolling 


164  A  Reasonable  Service 

before  us,  we  cannot  declare  much  longer  that  the 
day  is  far  distant  when  'every  man  that  will  not 
take  up  his  sword  against  his  neighbor  must  needs 
flee  unto  Zion  for  safety.'  We  cannot  expect 
this  place  of  refuge  to  rise  up  suddenly  when  the 
need  requires.  We  have  been  warned  of  how 
and  when  it  must  be  done,  and  of  the  need  for  it. 
And  the  promise,  blazoned  in  letters  of  hope, 
comes  to  us,  'It  shall  be  called  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem, a  land  of  peace,  a  city  of  refuge,  a  place  of 
safety  for  the  saints  of  the  most  high  God ;  and 
the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  there,  and  the  ter- 
ror of  the  Lord  also  shall  be  there,  insomuch  that 
the  wicked  will  not  come  unto  it ;  and  it  shall  be 
called  Zion.  .  .  .  And  there  shall  be  gathered  unto 
it  out  of  every  nation  under  heaven;  and  it  shall 
be  the  only  people  that  shall  not  be  at  war  one 
with  another.  .  .  .  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that 
the  righteous  shall  be  gathered  out  from  among 
all  nations,  and  shall  come  to  Zion  singing  with 
songs  of  everlasting  joy.'  "  (Section  45.) 

"I  am  glad  the  rain  kept  us  in  this  afternoon," 
Mr.  Blake  said.  "I  have  received  new  views  from 
our  talk  here,  as  well  as  having  some  of  my  own 
confirmed.  The  time  is  coming  when  my  name 
will  be  on  the  records  of  the  church  if  my  investi- 


Stewardship  Ideals  165 

gations  in  the  future  be  as  satisfactory  as  they 
have  been  in  the  past." 

"I  am  glad  to  hear  you  say  that,  Mr.  Blake," 
Neil  assured  him,  heartily.  "The  church  needs 
such  men  as  you — and  you  need  the  church." 

With  that  the  informal  meeting  broke  up,  for 
the  rain  had  ceased,  and  the  sun  peeping  through 
the  clouds  in  the  west  told  them  that  the  after- 
noon was  waning. 


A  Vision  Realized 


A  Reasonable  Service  169 

CHAPTER  9 

A  VISION  REALIZED 

SPRING  had  burst  into  being  at  last.  Every 
passing  breeze  bore  a  hint  of  blossoming 
hedgerows  and  orchards  sweet  with  bloom, 
while  the  fresh  new  grass  spread  like  an  emerald 
shadow  over  all  the  earth — no,  not  all.  It 
stopped  in  dismay  at  the  edge  of  city  pavements 
and  the  hard-packed  earth  around  the  factory 
shanties,  sending  only  a  spindling  blade  or  two 
as  an  advance  guard  that  seemed  a  pitiful  mock- 
ery of  the  springtime. 

Blythe,  going  to  work  day  after  day,  felt  a 
wild  desire  to  run  away  to  the  country  lanes  that 
she  knew  stretched  beyond  the  ceaseless  roar  of 
machinery  and  the  clang  and  rattle  of  electric 
cars  and  freight  trains.  She  kept  a  big  bunch 
of  lilacs  from  Jean's  blossoming  bush  on  the  office 
desk  and  wondered  impatiently  why  they  made 
her  more  poignantly  homesick  than  ever. 

One  day  a  sound  came  to  her  ears  as  she  bent 
over  her  books,  a  sound  that  she  did  not  recog- 
nize for  a  moment — the  honk  of  wild  geese. 
From  the  open  window  she  saw  them,  a  flying 


170  A  Reasonable  Service 

wedge  against  the  blue  of  the  sky,  following  the 
urge  of  instinct  to  the  shores  of  some  reed-gir- 
dled northern  lake.  She  watched  them  out  of 
sight,  the  wanderlust  of  the  spring  stirring  in  her 
own  veins.  Then,  indisposed  for  the  moment  to 
go  back  to  work,  she  glanced  down  to  see  what 
was  occurring  below.  Crossing  the  street  from 
the  direction  of  the  shanties,  she  noticed  the  same 
girl  she  had  seen  on  the  street  that  first  morning 
she  visited  the  factory.  Her  cheeks  seemed  to 
have  lost  some  of  their  color,  her  eyes  were  darkly 
circled,  and  she  walked  slowly,  as  if  from  phys- 
ical weakness.  Watching  her  idly,  Blythe  won- 
dered where  she  was  going;  then  she  saw  a 
strangely  familiar  brewster-green  runabout 
drawn  up  to  the  curb,  and  realized  with  a  start 
that  this  was  the  girl's  destination,  for  she  walked 
directly  to  it  and  climbed  into  the  seat. 

The  back  of  the  car  was  towards  Blythe  and 
she  stood  trying  vainly  to  remember  whether  or 
not  this  were  indeed  the  number  of  Neil's  ma- 
chine when  he  himself  came  from  the  same  direc- 
tion with  a  bundle  in  his  hand,  stepped  into  the 
runabout,  and  drove  away  down  the  street. 

For  a  moment  Blythe  stood  half  stunned,  try- 
ing to  summon  a  reason  for  this  surprising  inci- 
dent, and  finding  none.  The  fact  that  she  did 


A  Vision  Realized  171 

not  even  know  Neil  was  in  the  city  witnessed 
against  him,  for  not  in  many  weeks  past  had  he 
failed  to  see  her  when  he  came.  With  a  sensation 
of  numbness  she  went  back  to  her  work.  So  this 
was  the  man  she  had  come  to  regard  above  other 
men — the  man  whom  she  had  believed  to  be  as 
clean  as  she  herself  was  pure!  Hot  tears  came 
to  her  eyes  and  she  dashed  them  away  as  she 
heard  Ralph  returning  to  the  office.  But  all  the 
brightness  was  gone  from  the  spring  day,  and 
the  scent  of  the  lilacs  sickened  her.  One  moment 
she  was  sorry  that  she  had  been  called  to  the 
window;  the  next,  she  told  herself  sternly,  that 
she  was  fortunate  to  have  it  so,  for  neither  by 
example  nor  precept  had  John  Blake  taught  her 
to  believe  in  a  double  standard  of  morals,  and 
she  had  come  to  womanhood  with  a  keen  appre- 
ciation of  what  true  manhood  was  worth,  and  set 
a  standard  she  refused  to  lower.  So,  when  calm- 
ness came  back,  she  resolved  to  demand  an  ex- 
planation and  abide  by  the  consequences,  and,  in 
the  days  which  followed,  went  to  work  with  re- 
doubled energy  that  she  might,  in  a  measure, 
forget. 

"You  are  foolish,  Jean,"  she  said,  almost  irri- 
tably, when  that  young  woman  insisted  that  she 


172  A  Reasonable  Service 

looked  ill,  was  working  too  hard,  and  needed  a 
rest.  "I've  hardly  been  sick  a  day  in  my  life." 

When  Neil  did  come,  a  week  later,  there  was 
company  in  the  house,  and  in  spite  of  herself 
the  change  in  her  manner  towards  him  was  so 
marked  that  he  went  away  hurt  and  wondering, 
without  giving  her  any  opportunity  of  seeing  him 
alone. 

One  day,  strangely  enough,  she  went  to  his 
mother  for  comfort.  She  found  her  sitting  on  the 
porch  among  her  flowers,  her  hands  busy  with 
some  needlework.  Dropping  into  a  big  wicker 
chair,  Blythe  sat  watching  her  a  while  in  silence, 
a  silence  that  Mrs.  Cameron  understandingly  left 
unbroken. 

At  last  she  spoke:  "Mrs.  Cameron,  I  seem  to 
have  come  to  the  end  of  things  lately.  Ever  since 
I  have  started  trying  to  live  the  life  of  a  Chris- 
tian and  saint,  things  have  been  harder  than  they 
ever  were  before." 

The  older  woman  drew  Blythe  gently  from  her 
chair  to  the  rug  at  her  feet.  "Lay  your  head 
back  in  my  lap  and  let  me  smoothe  your  temples 
while  we  talk.  Of  course  things  have  been 
harder,  child.  Satan  always  gets  to  work  when 
he  knows  we  are  really  trying  to  do  right — and 
perhaps  the  loving  Father  knows  that  we  need 


A   Vision  Realized  173 

some  difficulties  and  trials  to  make  us  stronger. 
Would  you  like  to  tell  me  about  it?" 

"No,  I  don't  think  I  would,"  Blythe  answered, 
honestly.  Then  after  a  pause  she  went  on,  "If 
you  should  suddenly  discover,  or  have  every  rea- 
son to  believe,  that  people  you  trusted  and  re- 
spected weren't  at  all  what  they  seemed  to  be— 
wouldn't  it  turn  your  world  topsy-turvy  for  a 
while?  Wouldn't  it  shake  your  faith  a  little?" 

"It  is  very  hard,"  Mrs.  Cameron  replied. 
"That  is  one  of  the  hardest  things  I  have  had  to 
meet — the  discovery  of  flagrant  human  weak- 
nesses in  some  of  my  fellow  beings  whom  I  loved 
and  trusted;  but  I  have  learned  that,  no  matter 
what  others  may  do,  God  is  still  in  heaven,  and 
my  duty  towards  him  is  unchanged.  I  have 
learned  to  trust  him  when  I  could  not  understand 
all  that  came  to  me  sometimes,  and  through  that 
I  have  learned  not  to  lose  faith  in  my  brother  and 
sister,  but  to  keep  on  trying  to  help  them,  even 
though  they  seem  to  have  lost  the  way." 

Blythe  went  away  strengthened  and  somewhat 
comforted,  but  she  arose  next  morning  with  some 
premonition  of  coming  disaster  upon  her,  and 
when  a  long-distance  call  came  from  Sardis  that 
afternoon  she  waited  in  dread  for  the  message. 
Then  she  heard  her  uncle's  voice.  "Can  you  come 


174  A  Reasonable  Service 

home,  Blythe?  Aunt  Lillian  is  badly  hurt — lost 
control  of  the  car  on  a  down  grade  and  it  turned 
over  with  her." 

"I  can  come,  Uncle  John,  but — does  she  want 
me?"  Blythe  closed  her  eyes  to  shut  out  the 
whirling  room. 

"I  think  so.  She  can't  talk,  but  she  has  been 
trying  to  tell  me  something,  and  when  I  asked 
if  she  wanted  you  a  look  of  relief  came  into  her 
eyes." 

"All  right.  I'll  be  there  on  the  first  train.  It 
leaves  in  thirty  minutes." 

Roger  was  awaiting  her  at  the  depot  in  the 
roadster,  and  as  they  drove  along  the  familiar 
road  Blythe  looked  about  with  the  strange  feel- 
ing of  a  home-comer  after  years  of  absence,  so 
crowded  with  events  had  been  the  months  just 
past. 

Hester  opened  the  door  as  she  came  up  the 
steps  and  greeted  her  affectionately.  Blythe  went 
at  once  to  her  aunt's  room,  where  Mrs.  Blake  lay 
helpless,  her  hand  clasped  in  that  of  her  husband, 
drawn  closer  to  him  in  the  shadow  of  death  than 
she  had  ever  been  in  the  full  flush  of  life.  There 
was  a  look  in  her  eyes  as  Blythe  bent  over  her 
that  made  the  girl  stoop  and  kiss  her  tenderly. 


A   Vision  Realized  175 

Then  she  sat  down  and  took  the  other  hand  in 
her  own. 

"She  can't  live  but  a  few  hours,  the  doctors 
say,"  Hester  had  told  her.  "Paralysis  of  the 
nerve  centers  as  well  as  internal  injuries." 

It  was  not  long,  indeed,  for  as  the  day  waned 
she  seemed  to  sink  lower,  closing  sometimes  her 
wide,  questioning  eyes ;  but  what  lay  behind  them 
and  her  locked  lips  no  one  could  know,  for, 
though  she  rallied  once  as  the  day  waned,  it  was 
to  speak  only  one  indistinct  word,  "Good-by." 
Then  in  the  twilight  she  passed  out  with  the 
dying  day. 

The  next  evening  Blythe  slipped  out  into  the 
orchard,  searching  for  the  peace  that  used  to 
come  with  the  starlight.  All  day  she  had  been 
busy  with  the  hundred  and  one  things  which 
needed  attending  to,  glad  to  be  at  work  that  she 
might  forget,  in  some  measure,  the  headache  and 
that  baffling  sense  of  loss  that  comes  when  those 
with  whom  we  have  walked  a  little  way  have 
passed  beyond  our  ken.  Dropping  down  on  the 
grass  at  the  foot  of  an  old,  gnarled  apple  tree, 
she  looked  out  across  the  peaceful  meadow, 
strung  with  the  tiny  lanterns  of  dancing  fireflies, 
to  where  the  lights  of  the  town  pricked  through 
the  dusk. 


176  A  Reasonable  Service 

Presently  she  was  roused  by  the  sound  of  ap- 
proaching footsteps,  and  some  one  called  her 
name  softly.  She  hesitated  a  moment  before  she 
answered,  for  the  voice  was  Neil's. 

"Where  are  you,  Blythe?  Ah,  I  thought  I 
might  find  you  here."  He  held  out  his  hands 
and  drew  her  to  her  feet.  "Heaven  knows  I 
don't  want  to  intrude,  little  girl,  but  if  there's 
anything  I  can  do  I  want  to  do  it.  Somehow — 
you  haven't  seemed  to  care  to  have  me  around 
lately.  What  have  I  done,  Blythe?  Tell  me." 

Leaning  against  the  bole  of  the  big  tree,  her 
face  white  in  the  dusk,  she  told  him. 

"I'm  sorry,  Blythe,"  he  said  gravely.  "I  should 
have  explained  long  ago  if  I  had  known.  Fan- 
nie's  family  and  ours  were  friends  and  neighbors 
for  years.  She  comes  from  good  stock — I  don't 
know  why  she  went  to  the  bad.  Margaret  found 
her  ill  in  one  of  the  factory  shanties — ill  and 
penniless.  She  and  mother  did  all  they  could  for 
her  and  got  her  back  on  her  feet  again,  and  finally 
mother  persuaded  her  to  go  home  to  her  father 
and  mother  who  live  alone  and  wanted  her.  Mar- 
garet and  I  were  taking  her  there  that  day — I 
suppose  Margaret  was  in  the  car  and  you  did  not 
see  her.  If  you  don't  believe  me,  she  will  tell 
you  the  same." 


A   Vision  Realized  177 

"I  shall  never  ask  her — I  do  believe  yon,  Neil." 
And  peace  and  healing  came  to  her,  even  in  the 
midst  of  heartache. 

Loath  to  leave  her  uncle  in  his  new  loneli- 
ness, she  lingered  a  few  days ;  but  at  last  she  felt 
that  she  must  go,  and  told  him  so. 

"Why  can't  you  stay,  Blythe?"  he  asked.  "I 
need  you — we  all  need  you." 

And  then,  to  her  own  surprise,  she  found  her- 
self thinking  with  regret  of  the  office,  the  little 
white  chapel,  and  the  mission  Sunday  school. 
But  she  knew  that,  while  others  could  do  her 
work  there,  no  one  else  could  fill  her  niche  in  her 
uncle's  heart  and  home,  so  she  left  with  the  prom- 
ise to  return  as  soon  as  Mr.  Aldrich  could  find 
another  assistant  in  the  office. 

"Hester  and  the  youngsters  will  keep  you  from 
being  lonely  until  I  come  back,"  she  told  him. 
For  she  had  found  in  the  home  Hester's  orphan 
niece  and  nephew  who  were  finishing  out  the 
school  year  with  their  aunt,  the  one  with  whom 
they  had  been  living  having  moved  away. 

One  morning  Margaret  came  into  the  office 
where  she  was  at  work. 

"Blythe,"  she  said,  "I  want  you  to  go  with  me 
to  the  June  meeting  of  the  factory  owners  next 
week.  I  am  to  report  on  my  work  and  I  want 
RS— 12 


178  A  Reasonable  Service 

you  there  to  verify  some  of  the  things  I  tell  them 
and  stand  back  of  me  when  I  ask  for  better 
dwellings  and  more  sanitary  conditions  for  the 
factory  people.  There  is  as  much  sickness  in 
summer  as  in  winter,  but  because  there  is  less 
suffering  among  them  as  a  whole  they  don't  real- 
ize it.  I  have  been  trying  to  make  them  see  that 
dirty  dooryards  and  swarming  flies  are  respon- 
sible in  a  great  measure  for  the  rows  of  little 
graves  that  grow  longer  every  year ;  but  they  say, 
and  with  reason,  too,  'What  can  we  do?  We 
must  throw  our  refuse  somewhere,  and  our  houses 
are  too  poor  to  keep  the  flies  out.'  They  must 
have  help  and  encouragement  or  they  won't  try 
to  clean  up." 

"I  don't  want  to  be  a  wet  blanket,"  Blythe  re- 
turned, "and  I'll  go  with  you  gladly,  but  I  don't 
believe  the  factory  people  will  get  any  favors. 
The  company  wound  is  still  raw  over  the  loss  of 
last  winter,  which  the  owners  blame  upon  all  im- 
partially, and  they  will  tell  you  calmly  that  they 
cannot  afford  any  more  improvements,  with  the 
extra  building  on  hand  this  year." 

"I'm  going,  at  least,"  Margaret  declared,  "and 
do  what  I  can.  You  are  in  a  position  to  know  all 
that  I  do  and  help  me  if  you  will." 

"I'll  do  it  gladly,"  was  the  reply.    "My  heart 


A   Vision  Realized  179 

is  with  the  factory  people,  but  I  can  get  the  other 
fellow's  viewpoint  too,  you  see." 

They  went  and  presented  the  case  as  strongly 
as  possible ;  but  the  company,  divided  against  it- 
self, could  not  agree  on  any  decision,  and  all 
Margaret  obtained  was  a  half-hearted  promise 
to  look  things  over  and  see  what  could  be  done— 
which  proved  to  be  very  little. 

John  Blake  was  waiting  for  Blythe  when  she 
reached  home  that  evening.  "I'm  going  to  ar- 
range for  every  child  to  spend  a  week  at  Pleas- 
ant Acres  this  summer,"  he  said  when  she  told 
of  the  meeting;  "that  is,  if  you  and  Hester  can 
manage  a  dozen  or  so  at  a  time.  We  can  stretch 
two  tents  on  the  lawn  for  them  to  sleep  in  and 
turn  them  loose  through  the  day.  We'll  make 
them  think  they've  had  a  peep  into  paradise." 
All  of  which  happened  in  due  time.  His  next 
remark,  however,  filled  Blythe  with  dismay. 

"Hester  thinks  she  must  leave  this  fall,"  he 
said.  "This  aunt  the  children  have  been  living 
with  has  moved  on  to  a  western  ranch  where 
there  is  not  much  chance  for  an  education,  so 
Hester  thinks  she  must  look  after  them." 

"Why,  Uncle  John,  we  can't  get  along  with- 
out Hester !  It  is  an  absolute  impossibility !  Why 
can't  the  children  stay  with  us  and  go  to  school?" 


180  A  Reasonable  Service 

Which  was  exactly  what  he  wished  her  to  pro- 
pose, but  he  only  said,  "I  am  perfectly  willing 
myself,  but  I  wanted  to  consult  you  first.  You 
are  my  junior  partner,  you  know." 

One  summer  morning  a  few  weeks  later  Neil 
walked  into  his  office  in  such  exuberant  spirits 
that  his  stenographer  looked  at  him  in  some  sur- 
prise. 

"Lovely  morning,  Miss  Steele,"  he  assured 
her. 

"Why,  yes — rather  cloudy,  though." 

"So  it  is — I  hadn't  noticed.  It  is  clearing 
away,  however." 

Then  he  went  to  work  at  his  desk  and  became 
so  absorbed  that  when  she  inquired  about  the  lo- 
cation of  a  farm  which  was  listed  for  sale  he  an- 
swered, "Pleasant  Acres,  a  mile  east  of  town." 

"I  was  referring  to  Riverview  Farm,"  she  cor- 
rected him,  rather  coldly. 

"Oh,  yes,  excuse  me!"  he  apologized  hastily. 
"I  was  thinking  of  another  place." 

The  day,  usually  so  full,  dragged  abominably, 
and  he  was  glad  when  an  errand  called  him  out 
of  town  in  the  afternoon,  for  it  relieved  his  spirits 
somewhat  to  get  out  in  the  country  and  drive  the 
runabout  at  the  top  of  its  speed.  When  he  came 
back  Miss  Steele  was  gone,  much  to  his  relief, 


A   Vision  Realized  181 

and  he  turned  his  attention  immediately  to  the 
telephone. 

"Hello,    Is  this  417?  Is  this  Blythe?" 

"Yes,  this  is  Blythe,"  she  assured  him. 

"I  saw  you  come  this  morning — or  rather  I 
saw  you  go  out  of  town." 

"Did  you?  You  are  a  long  time  making  your- 
self known." 

"Oh,  well,  business,  you  know.  I'm  coming 
out  this  evening  if  you  don't  mind,"  he  added. 

"All  right;  do.  If  we  had  anything  prepared 
for  company,"  she  continued,  "I'd  ask  you  out 
for  supper,  but  Uncle  John  was  called  away  this 
afternoon,  so  we're  just  having  old  maid's  tea." 

"What  is  that?"  he  inquired.  "I've  never  sam- 
pled one,  I  guess." 

"Oh,  anything  that  is  convenient,"  she  re- 
turned. "This  time  it  is  milk  just  off  the  ice  and 
chicken  sandwiches  and  fresh-baked  rolls  and 
honey  and  strawberry  shortcake  with  whipped 
cream,  and— 

"An  oasis  in  the  desert,  Blythe!  I've  been  eat- 
ing restaurant  fare  for  two  solid  weeks." 

"Oh,  yes,  and  Hester  baked  molasses  cookies 
to-day — fat  ones  with  raisins  sticking  out  every 
now  and  then." 

"Oh,  have  a  heart!"  he  implored.     "I  shall 


182  A  Reasonable  Service 

come  without  an  invitation  if  you  continue  to 
tempt  me." 

"Well,  come  on/'  she  said,  demurely.  "I'm 
not  sure  what  Hester  will  say,  but  perhaps  she 
won't  mind.  Shall  we  look  for  you  right  away?" 

But  her  question  fell  on  a  dead  receiver,  for 
Neil  was  on  his  way  to  the  runabout.  He  knew 
Hester  too  well  to  be  at  all  alarmed  at  Blythe's 
suggestion  of  an  inhospitable  reception,  and 
headed  the  car  in  the  direction  of  Pleasant  Acres 
at  once. 

When  supper  was  over  he  donned  a  pair  of 
Mr.  Blake's  overalls  and  helped  the  hired  man 
with  the  evening  work,  then  romped  with  the  chil- 
dren on  the  lawn  and  so  won  their  hearts  that 
there  was  a  howl  of  protest  when  Hester  carried 
them  off  to  bed.  Then  he  went  in  search  of 
Blythe,  who  had  disappeared,  and  found  her  with 
Mr.  Blake,  sampling  the  pink-cheeked  harvest 
apples  in  the  orchard. 

"Have  one,"  she  invited.  "When  Uncle  came 
home  he  told  me  the  apples  were  ripe  so  we  ran 
away  and  came  to  see." 

Presently  John  Blake  left  them  and  went  to- 
wards the  house,  and  Neil  turned  to  her  and 
asked  reminiscently,  "Have  we  ever  watched  the 


A   Vision  Realized  183 

moon  come  up  over  the  hill  from  the  edge  of  the 
orchard?" 

"I  don't  remember  any  such  occasion,"  she  re- 
plied. 

"Then  let's  establish  a  precedent,"  he  proposed, 
and  they  strolled  down  through  the  apple  trees 
and  into  the  clover-scented  meadow  beyond. 
They  talked  of — what  does  it  matter?  Every- 
thing except  the  one  thing  beating  uppermost  in 
their  young  hearts.  Halting  at  last,  they  stood 
leaning  on  the  gate  which  led  into  a  wide  wheat 
field  where  the  shocks  of  grain  stood  in  long  rows 
like  silent  sentinels  of  the  night.  Before  them 
lay  spread  the  great  checkerboard  of  field  and 
meadow,  bathed  in  the  soft  afterglow  of  the  sun- 
set and  the  light  of  a  round,  yellow  moon,  just 
peering  over  the  edge  of  the  horizon. 

For  a  time  they  stood  in  silence;  then  Neil  re- 
peated reverently,  "  'Great  and  marvelous  are 
thy  works,  O  Lord."  How  much  nearer  heaven 
would  we  wish  to  be  than  this,  if  only  there  were 
no  sin  and  sorrow  anywhere  in  the  peace  of  the 
night?"  Then  he  turned  to  her  and  said  softly, 
"It  would  be  almost  heaven  to  me  if  I  knew — 
Sweetheart,  if  we  love  each  other,  why  wait 
longer  to  say  it?" 

Pray  do  not  listen  longer.   This  is  their  hour, 


184  A  Reasonable  Service 

and  no  unbidden  ear  should  hear.  You,  young 
man,  if  you  wish  light  on  the  subject,  may  con- 
sult an  encyclopedia  of  etiquette  or  a  treatise  on 
mathematics  with  equal  benefit,  for  no  matter 
how  carefully  you  plan  your  speech  you  will  find 
it  gone  from  your  mind  and  only  the  words  of 
the  heart  remaining  when  the  decisive  moment 
comes;  and  you,  dear  girl,  will  think  them  the 
sweetest  words  ever  spoken  and  read  the  mean- 
ing clear,  even  though  the  tongue  that  gives  them 
utterance  be  halting  and  uncertain.  As  for  the 
rest  of  us,  we  have  our  memories,  sweeter  by  far 
in  that  they  are  shared  by  only  one  other. 

So,  though  moonlit  eves  have  been  made  for 
lovers  since  the  world  began,  this  one  smiled  only 
for  these  two.  For  them,  the  grave,  golden  moon 
lighted  the  way  home  across  the  dewy  meadows 
while  the  clover  blossoms  kissed  their  feet  as  they 
passed;  and  for  them  rose  dreams  and  hopes  for 
the  future,  fused  and  blended  together  by  the 
pure,  white  fire  of  love.  And  a  gray-haired  man, 
watching  them  come  home,  felt  a  mist  before  his 
eyes  which  was  not  the  mist  of  the  night,  and  a 
strange  pain  at  his  heart  at  the  stir  of  an  old 
memory. 

At  the  edge  of  the  orchard  they  paused  to  look 
out  again  across  the  moonlit  fields.  "Dear,"  he 


A   Vision  Realized  185 

asked,  "would  you  be  content  to  be  the  wife  of  a 
common,  everyday  farmer?" 

"I  can  imagine  a  great  deal  worse  condition 
in  life,"  she  replied,  smiling.  "Tell  me  about  it." 

"I  have  always  wanted  to  dig  in  soil  I  could 
call  my  own  and  breathe  the  free  air  and  do  all 
the  experimenting  I  wished,  for  myself.  I  have 
a  little  ahead — enough  to  give  us  a  start  towards 
a  home  of  our  own.  I  have  received  the  intima- 
tion, from  those  in  a  position  to  know,  that  my 
previous  training  and  experience  would  be  of  use 
in  the  work  which  has  grown  dear  to  my  soul— 
the  building  up  of  Zion.  So,  with  your  consent, 
I  have  decided  where  to  buy.  Would  a  little  cot- 
tage, set  in  a  tangle  of  green  trees  and  the  view 
of  a  river  with  brown  and  emerald  shores,  be  any 
inducement?" 

"Oh,  Neil,"  she  breathed  softly,  "you  meant 
an  uncommon,  everyday  farmer,  didn't  you?  Yes, 
I'm  sure  I  shall  be  happy  as  a  queen!" 


"Is  everything  ready,  Hester?"  Blythe  came 
in  through  the  kitchen  door  one  bright  October 
morning,  fresh  as  the  new  day  itself,  with  a  glow 
on  her  face  and  a  light  in  her  blue  eyes  that  Hes- 
ter did  not  fail  to  note. 


186  A  Reasonable  Service 

"Everything  is  ready,"  she  replied.  "Just  a 
few  finishing  touches.  The  children  will  help  me 
with  those,  so  run  along  and  do  whatever  you 
please.  They  must  do  something  to  make  up  for 
missing  school  to-day." 

"Sure  we  will,"  cried  David,  and  Madge  added 
an  eager  assent;  so  Blythe  slipped  away  to  the 
veranda  for  a  long  look  at  the  view  she  loved  so 
well  and  to  dream  for  a  moment  of  a  future  close 
at  hand.  Already  the  month  had  been  marked 
by  two  events  which  gave  her  reason  to  remember 
it ;  one  the  baptisms  of  John  Blake,  Roger,  Mar- 
ian, and  Hester  in  the  chapel  font  at  Sardis ;  and 
the  other,  the  ordination  of  Neil  Cameron  to  the 
lesser  priesthood  at  the  fall  conference,  held  at 
the  little  white  chapel  where  the  angel  message 
had  first  come  to  her.  She  had  listened  with 
heart  overflowing  with  emotion,  to  the  words,  so 
nearly  identical  with  those  spoken  to  her,  though 
given  through  a  different  officiating  minister: 
"Thou  shalt  be  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of 
God  in  the  work  of  the  redemption  of  Zion  and 
the  building  up  of  the  New  Jerusalem." 

She  was  thinking  of  this  now,  as  she  stood 
looking  out  over  the  sun-filled  valley — thinking, 
too,  of  the  dear  home  she  was  leaving  and  the 
man  she  respected  and  loved  as  a  father,  and  of 


A   Vision  Realized  187 

her  future  with  Neil,  whom  she  respected  no  less 
and,  after  the  way  of  the  world,  loved  a  little 
more.  She  was  waiting  for  him  now,  wondering 
why  her  heart  could  find  room  at  the  same  mo- 
ment for  such  a  measure  of  pain  and  rapture. 
She  searched  the  road  for  the  familiar  brewster- 
green  runabout,  but  there  was  only  a  dark  blue 
"chummy"  roadster,  shining  and  new,  in  sight, 
which  received  but  a  passing  glance  until  she  saw 
it  stop  at  the  gate.  Then  she  gave  a  start  of  sur- 
prise, for  Neil  himself  stepped  out,  took  off  his 
hat,  and  waved  it  invitingly. 

"Come  down  from  your  tower,  princess,"  he 
called.  "I  have  something  to  show  you.  You 
are  a  vision  of  the  morning!"  he  continued,  on 
closer  inspection  of  her  glowing  face.  "A  vision 
to  bring  mere  man  to  his  knees  in  the  dust! 
It  makes  my  heart  turn  over  to  reflect  that  in 
less  than  two  hours  I  shall  have  the  undisputed 
right  to  kiss  you  any  time,  any  place— 

"What  extravagant  language  you  do  use, 
Neil !  And  don't  get  down  on  your  knees — grass 
stains  are  very  hard  to  remove.  Whose  car  is 
this,  and  what  were  you  going  to  show  me?" 

"My  dear,  this  is  our  car!  Don't  you  know  the 
runabout  was  only  loaned  to  me  while  acting  as 
county  agent  ?  This  is  the  coach  of  state  in  which 


188  A  Reasonable  Service 

we  shall  depart  on  our  wedding  journey  a  few 
hours  hence.  If  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  ob- 
serve closely,  you  will  find  the  space  between  the 
front  and  back  seats  packed  with  necessary  arti- 
cles for  camping  out  in  case  we  would  desire  to 
do  so  and  the  weather  permits.  I  tried  to  leave 
room  for  a  suit  case  or  two,"  he  added,  poking 
about  among  the  contents  of  the  machine. 

"Oh,  how  lovely!"  she  cried.  "And  to  think 
we  can  go  in  our  very  own  car!  I  have  been 
dreading  a  railway  journey!" 

"Good  morning,  Neil."  John  Blake  had  saun- 
tered down  to  the  gate  as  they  talked  and  stood 
looking  the  new  possession  over  appraisingly. 
"When  you  two  children  have  finished  admiring 
the  car  and  one  another,  come  on  into  the  house. 
I  want  to  talk  to  you." 

He  was  seated  before  his  desk  when  they  came 
in,  a  pile  of  papers  before  him  which  had  been 
recently  collected  from  an  open  drawer.  From 
them  he  selected  a  bank  book  and  held  it  out  to 
Blythe. 

"When  your  father  and  mother  died,"  he  said, 
"I  took  what  they  left  and  deposited  it  in  your 
name.  This  shows  what  you  have,  with  the  addi- 
tion of  the  interest  and  a  little  I  have  added  now 
and  then." 


A   Vision  Realized  189 

Blythe  took  it  wonderingly  and  looked  at  the 
total.  Even  a  rapid  computation,  after  a  glance 
at  the  original  amount,  told  her  that  Mr.  Blake's 
addition  had  not  been  so  small  as  he  would  have 
it  seem. 

"I  wanted  to  be  sure  you  would  have  some- 
thing for  yourself,"  he  went  on,  "but  so  long  as 
you  had  no  need  of  it  I  said  nothing  about  it  to 
you,  though  my  lawyer  was  fully  advised  of  the 
matter." 

"You  are  far  too  good  to  me,  uncle,"  Blythe 
said  unsteadily,  her  arms  around  his  neck.  "You 
have  always  been  a  father  to  me." 

With  a  quick  gesture  of  tenderness  he  drew 
her  down  to  his  knee.  "You  will  notice  this  total 
is  several  years  old,"  he  went  on.  "I  withdrew 
it  then  and  invested  it  in  Government  bonds,  so 
there  is  a  little  more  plus  the  interest.  It  is  ready 
for  you  whenever  you  want  it." 

"That  is  for  Blythe  to  decide,"  Neil  replied 
quietly,  in  answer  to  the  glance  Mr.  Blake  gave 
him.  "The  money  is  safely  invested  now,  and  it 
seems  as  well  to  me  to  leave  it  in  bonds." 

"Just  as  well  for  the  present,  perhaps,"  Blythe 
said,  "but  I  happen  to  know  where  it  can  be  used 
to  advantage."  Then  she  went  on  with  firmness 
as  Neil  raised  a  dissenting  voice,  "This  is  going 


190  A  Reasonable  Service 

to  be  a  partnership  business  as  well  as  a  steward- 
ship, or  none  at  all.  You  see,  uncle,  we  are  going 
on  that  basis,  so  it  is  best  to  tell  you  before  you 
turn  it  over  to  us." 

"My  dear  child,  it  is  yours  without  any  turn- 
ing over.  As  for  the  stewardship  part  of  it,  I 
filed  an  inventory  when  I  visited  the  bishop  two 
weeks  ago  and  expect  to  go  on  that  basis  myself. 
And  though  I  expect  to  remain  here  a  while,  I 
shall  sell  when  I  can  do  so  to  advantage  and  do 
my  share  towards  helping  to  buy  up  the  land 
there,  as  we  have  been  commanded  to  do.  I  am 
trying,  just  now,  to  get  my  tithing  paid  up,  and 
it  is  taking  most  of  my  loose  change,  he  went  on 
whimsically,  "but  the  Lord  has  blessed  me  so 
abundantly  all  my  life  that  it  seems  to  me  to  be 
about  time  to  begin  paying  the  back  rent.  So  go 
ahead,  my  children ;  do  the  best  you  can  with  the 
light  and  intelligence  God  gives  you  and  may  his 
blessing  be  ever  with  you." 

There  was  no  time  for  more,  for  the  guests 
were  arriving.  There  were  only  a  few,  in  ac- 
cordance with  Blythe's  wishes — Marian  and 
Roger;  and  Ralph,  Jean,  Mrs.  Cameron,  Mar- 
garet, and  Betty  from  the  city.  And  since  all 
weddings  are  more  or  less  alike,  we  shall  only 
say  that  after  the  brief  but  impressive  ceremony 


A   Vision  Realized  191 

was  over,  with  Elder  Howe,  the  minister  who 
had  led  Blythe  into  the  waters  of  baptism,  offi- 
ciating, and  Hester's  bountiful  dinner  disposed 
of,  the  farewells  were  said  and  the  blue  roadster 
went  spinning  down  the  road,  while  John  Blake 
waved  bravely  from  the  veranda  as  long  as  a  cer- 
tain blue-clad,  girlish  figure  with  a  fluttering 
handkerchief  was  visible. 

So  they  began  their  life  journey  together. 
Perhaps  the  thought  of  the  bigness  of  it  sealed 
their  lips,  for  they  sat  silent  while  the  brown  road 
rolled  up  to  meet  them  and  disappeared  beneath 
the  flying  wheels.  At  length  Blythe,  looking  up 
at  Neil's  strong,  browned  profile,  felt  the  pain  of 
the  sundering  of  old  ties  melt  into  a  warm  wave 
of  joy,  and  murmured,  softly  and  experiment- 
ally, the  unaccustomed  words,  "My  husband." 

Softly  spoken  though  they  were,  he  heard  them 
and  turned  to  her  with  his  grave  eyes  sud- 
denly alight.  "My  wife!"  he  said.  "It  sobers 
one,  doesn't  it,  sweetheart — that  marriage  cove- 
nant that  says  so  little  and  means  so  much.  I 
hope  it  may  always  mean  as  much  to  us  as  it  does 
at  this  instant." 

"It  will  mean  more  and  more  as  the  years  go 
by,"  she  replied.     "It  must.    I  am  not  afraid— 
with  you." 


192  A  Reasonable  Service 

"Your  husband  has  many  faults,  I  fear,"  said 
Neil,  slowly,  "but  I  have  come  to  you  clean  and 
straight,  unashamed  to  look  the  world  in  the  face, 
conscious  I  have  never  knowingly  wronged  man, 
woman,  or  little  child." 

"Do  you  remember  another  ride  we  took  on 
just  such  a  day  as  this?"  she  inquired  after  an- 
other silence.  "The  very  first  one  we  took  to- 
gether and  alone  if  I  remember  rightly?" 

"Do  I  remember?  Shall  I  ever  forget?  Only 
you  had  too  much  to  say  about  Bob  Weston  to 
make  it  an  unmixed  pleasure  to  me.  I  felt  ag- 
grieved because  he  had  ever  spoken  of  that  road 
on  top  of  the  world.  I  wanted  to  discover  it  to 
you  solely  by  myself.  I  used  to  fear  he  was 
something  of  a  rival.  Was  I  right?" 

"We  were  always  friends,"  she  replied.  Never 
had  she  spoken,  even  to  Neil,  of  Bob's  farewell 
visit  that  winter  night.  "He  is  in  South  America 
now,  with  a  party  of  mining  engineers.  That  was 
the  one  thing  he  always  wished  to  do.  He  even 
took  a  course  in  it  at  one  time,  but  his  mother 
did  not  approve — no  gentleman's  job,  she  said— 
and  his  father  was  determined  he  should  be  a 
lawyer.  Between  them  and  a  doting  grandfather 
he  came  very  near  to  being  nothing,  but  some 


A   Vision  Realized  193 

stronger  strain  of  ancestry  saved  him  from  the 
wreck." 

"Was  that  the  reason  you  didn't  marry  him 
instead  of  me?"  Neil  persisted,  searching  the 
grave  eyes  lifted  to  his. 

"No — you  are  the  reason,"  she  answered  with 
a  reassuring  smile.  But  she  did  not  tell  him  of 
the  one  letter  she  had  received  from  Bob  after 
he  left,  in  which  he  said,  "Have  you  married  Neil 
Cameron  yet,  Blythe?  I  know  he  is  ten  times 
more  worthy  of  you  than  I — but  don't  blame  me 
too  much  when  I  tell  you  that  even  yet,  lying  by 
the  campfire  at  night,  I  have  my  dreams."  Nor 
did  she  tell  him  of  her  reply — a  letter  full  of 
hope  and  encouragement  and  news  of  home  and 
friends,  but  one  which  brought  Bob's  dreams  to 
a  speedy  and  merciful  end. 

One  golden  afternoon,  when  they  had  tired  of 
loitering  through  the  dreamy,  enchanted  days 
and  star-strewn,  mysterious  nights  of  Indian 
summer,  they  stood  on  the  Temple  Lot  and 
looked  out  across  the  City  of  Hope.  Peace  was 
over  all  like  a  mantle,  enshrouding  the  old  Stone 
Church,  the  quiet  streets,  the  distant  squares  of 
the  city  whose  clustering  roofs  were  half  hidden 
among  the  trees.  Only  the  passing  of  an  occa- 
sional automobile  and  the  far-away  whine  of  a 
RS— 13 


194  A  Reasonable  Service 

city-bound  electric  car  broke  the  stillness  of  the 
sunlit  air,  softened  by  the  warm,  autumn  haze. 

"I  don't  know  why  I  have  such  a  feeling  of 
perfect  peace  and  contentment,"  Blythe  said, 
unless  the  blessing  of  God  rests  in  fuller  measure 
on  this  land  that  he  has  set  apart  as  his  own.  It 
is  a  beautiful  city  and  a  beautiful  land — perfect, 
it  seems  to  me." 

"Perfect  in  beauty  and  location,  certainly," 
Neil  responded,  "because  the  place  was  chosen 
by  the  Master  Builder;  and  we  earnestly  hope 
and  fervently  pray  and  ardently  work  for  its 
perfection  in  all  things  when  it  shall  be  a  glorious 
similitude  of  the  pattern  given  by  its  great  De- 
signer." 

For  a  time  they  lingered,  but  as  the  hour  grew 
late  they  left  the  sacred  spot  and,  winding 
through  the  streets,  came  out  upon  a  rock  road 
with  a  panorama  of  country  on  either  side  so  fair 
to  the  eye  that  Blythe  caught  her  breath  in  de- 
light. 

"I  don't  wonder  that  you  wanted  to  come 
back,"  she  said.  "It  is  a  vision  of  loveliness.  Are 
we  near  home  yet?" 

"A  few  miles  farther  on,"  was  the  answer,  and 
she  sat  in  silence,  watching  the  changing  land- 
scape. As  it  began  to  darken  they  turned  into  a 


A   Vision  Realized  195 

wide  valley  and  Neil  pointed  out  to  her  the  out- 
line of  a  small  bungalow  nestling  among  over- 
hanging trees  a  little  way  ahead. 

"There  is  our  home,"  he  told  her,  "and  there, 
not  far  beyond,  the  town  and  church.  Here, 
please  God,  we  shall  live  and  labor  until  he  or- 
ders otherwise." 

They  drove  in  under  the  bending  trees  and 
climbed  the  steps  to  the  door;  but  when  Neil  had 
opened  it  Blythe  gave  an  exclamation  of  sur- 
prise. 

"Why,  it  is  all  furnished!"  she  cried.  "No 
wonder  you  wouldn't  stop  and  go  furniture  hunt- 
ing in  the  city!  When  did  you  do  it,  Neil?" 

"That  uncle  of  yours  insisted  on  doing  it,"  he 
replied.  "That  was  one  of  his  reasons  for  com- 
ing down  last  month.  I  know  we  had  planned 
on  doing  it  ourselves,  but  he  was  quite  unman- 
ageable about  it.  He  did  it  better  than  we  could 
have  afforded  to,  no  doubt,  for  you  know  there 
are  decided  limitations  to  your  husband's  pocket- 
book.  At  his  request  I  told  him  what  you  wanted, 
so  I  don't  believe  you  will  be  disappointed." 

"Dear  Uncle  John!  What  have  I  done  to  de- 
serve all  this  happiness?" 

"Once  before  you  reproached  yourself  for  such 
a  state  of  affairs,"  he  reminded  her,  "and  then 


196  A  Reasonable  Service 

you  found  your  pathway  full  of  lions.  So  don't 
think  the  difficulties  are  all  over  now.  We  shall 
have  our  trials  that  will  try  us  to  the  very  core, 
perhaps,  for  in  this  way  are  we  to  be  made 
polished  and  tested  stones  for  the  building  of 
Zion;  but  if  we  keep  right  with  each  other  and 
with  God  we  have  nothing  to  fear." 

"I  know,"  she  answered  softly,  "and  I  know, 
too,  that  no  matter  how  much  we  care  for  each 
other  there  will  come  times  to  both  of  us  when 
we  shall  have  to  fight  our  own  personal  battles 
alone,  with  no  one  but  God  to  help  us." 

Then,  womanlike,  she  explored  the  house  and 
lingered  over  its  contents  until  Neil,  coming  in 
from  one  of  his  trips  to  the  car,  inquired,  "Are 
we  going  to  have  anything  to  eat,  Blythe?  I've 
made  a  fire  and  put  the  tea  kettle  on  and  brought 
the  stuff  in  from  the  car." 

"Oh,  of  course,"  she  replied.  "I  had  forgot- 
ten there  was  any  such  thing  as  eating." 

When  the  meal  was  ready,  however,  she  missed 
him  and  went  in  search,  calling  his  name.  He 
answered  from  the  porch  and,  as  she  came  to  his 
side,  slipped  his  arm  around  her  and  drew  her 
close. 

"I  have  been  seeing  visions — night  visions,  I 
suppose,"  he  said.  "Did  you  ever  look  upon  a 


A   Vision  Realized  197 

scene  of  such  surpassing  beauty  as  this  moonlit 
valley?  I  have  been  looking  into  the  future  and  I 
can  see  it  as  I  see  it  to-night,  but  in  it  dwells  a 
busy,  happy  people,  filled  with  the  love  of  God 
and  their  fellow  men.  I  see  mills  and  factories 
at  work — I  see  farmers  and  miners  and  me- 
chanics— men  in  every  vocation  of  life,  working 
together  in  peace  and  harmony  and  understand- 
ing. And  when  I  look  ahead  a  little  farther  to 
the  time  when  our  Lord  shall  come  suddenly  to 
his  temple,  my  soul  is  filled  with  such  boundless 
exaltation  and  joy  that  I  can  find  no  words  to 
express  it." 

From  somewhere  in  the  night  came  the  distant 
rattle  of  a  wagon,  as  a  load  of  happy  young  peo- 
ple passed  along  the  road  and  their  voices  floated 
back,  mellow  and  sweet: 

"Israel,  Israel,  God  is  speaking; 

Hear  your  great  Deliv'rer's  voice! 
Now  a  glorious  morn  is  breaking 

For  the  people  of  his  choice. 
Come  to  Zion,  come  to  Zion, 
And  within  her  walls  rejoice." 


A  book  inspiring  zeal  for  the  ministry  of  material 
things 


JOE  PINE 

By  Elbert  A.  Smith 


a  skill  and  vividness  peculiar 
to  this  author,  he  has  portrayed 
character  development  with  a 
wholesome  human  interest  setting 
which  makes  the  book  appeal  to  all 
ages. 

^Especially  is  it  a  story  that  appeals 
to  young  people  just  looking  over 
the  horizon  of  maturity  and  inclined 
to  become  bewildered  at  the  view. 


A  splendid  book  to  lend  to  your  friends. 
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Young  People's  History 


In  two  volumes :  Volume  1  covers  the  period  from 
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To  meet  the  popular  demand  for  a  history  that 
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the  salient  features  of  the  four-volume  general 
Church  History  extant  were  embodied  into  these 
two  books. 

By  Vida  E.  Smith 

Associated  with  Church  Historian  Heman  C. 
Smith,  as  his  wife,  Mrs.  Smith  has  had  excellent 
opportunity  to  acquire  information  and  illustrations 
for  these  books  which  has  made  them  mean  much 
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"After   forty   years    of   active    missionary 

work,  this  book  offers  many  new  points 

for  me,"  is  the  testimony  of  one  of 

our  best-known  church 

workers. 


The  Call  at  Evening 

By  Jessie  Ward 


IJUpon  reading  the  first  chapter  of  this  popular  book 
one  is  convinced  it  is  going  to  be  an  interesting 
book. 

flAs  he  proceeds  further  he  knows  it  is,  and  before 
it  is  finished,  has  resolved  to  loan  it  to  every  friend 
who  will  promise  to  read  it. 

IJFew  books  can  carry  so  much  sound  doctrinal  dis- 
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Are  You  a  Busy  Man? 


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Official  Statement  of  Belief  and  Epitome  of 
Faith  and  Doctrine. 

Faith. 

Repentance. 

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The   Resurrection   and   the   Eternal   Judg- 
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A  struggle  against  poverty  and  the  influence 
of  a  new  and,  seemingly  strange  religion 

In  the  Shelter  of  the 
Little  Brown  Cottage 

By  Estella  Wight 

IJHere  is  a  book  that  boys  and  girls  from 
ten  years  up  will  appreciate,  as  well  as 
adults.  Members  and  nonmembers  alike 
read  with  interest  this  homey  story  that 
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IJThe  climax  is  satisfactory,  but  since  the 
characters  are  young  and  the  lure  of  life 
is  still  ahead,  their  further  adventures  be- 
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A  Vineyard  Story 

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the  characters  personally. 

^Having  read  the  first  book  of  these  two  in  the  se- 
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one  will  the  more  enjoy  this  one,  which  is  an  ex- 
emplification of  the  Master's  call:  "Go  work  in  my 
vineyard." 

^Written  especially  for  the  young  people  of  the 
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Square  Blocks 

including  other  sermons  and  articles  by 
President  Elbert  A.  Smith 

^Perhaps  no  writer  in  the  church  has  more 
friends  to  appreciate  his  literary  work 
than  our  "Brother  Elbert,"  long-time  edi- 
tor of  Saints'  Herald  and  Autumn  Leaves. 
In  this  book  we  have  some  of  his  best,  se- 
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and  situations.  It  is  a  book  of  over  500 
pages,  each  page  inspiring  one  to  higher 
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A  Story  of  the  Plains 

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by  reading  this  narrative  which  has  its 
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America. 

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the  early  days  of  the  Reorganization. 

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Zion  Builders'  Sermons 


A  series  of  sermons  preached  by  Elbert  A. 
Smith  to  the  young  people. 


This  is  about  as  readable  a  collection  of 
sermons  as  one  will  ordinarily  find,  based  on 
subjects  of  fundamental  value  and  so  brim- 
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years  of  age  sat  intently  all  during  the  eve- 
nings of  their  delivery. 

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A  5tory  of  Old  Jlauvoo 

Timbers  for  the  Temple 

By  Elbert  A.  Smith 


1JThe  dramatic  scenes  in  the  church  at  Nauvoo 
about  the  time  of  the  death  of  Joseph  Smith  are 
here  interwoven  into  a  historical  story  that  fixes 
the  events  of  those  days  permanently  and  meaning- 
fully in  the  reader's  mind. 


reaction  of  righteous  minds  over  the  sugges- 
tions concerning  spiritual  wifery  brought  among 
the  people  at  this  time,  is  graphically  portrayed 
and  one  comes  to  appreciate  the  courage  and  te- 
nacity manifested  by  those  who  took  a  vigorous 
stand  for  the  right. 


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2  3  APR  1967 
18  JUN1967 


